Fans miss out due to PSL ticketing issues

Ticketing problems for South African footballing giants Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs have resulted in thousands of football fans missing out on the opening games of the 2022/23 season.

SABC Sport has learnt that Computicket, a company that sells over-the-counter tickets to these games, struggled to process the tickets for Pirates™ game against Swallows FC at Orlando Stadium last Saturday, leading the hosts having to issue a statement before kick-off.

READ: Rulani highlights Chiefs œmetamorphosis

Earlier this week, Chiefs were forced to come out and announce that tickets for their match at home to Maritzburg United would be sold on the outskirts of the FNB Stadium precinct as there were issues around over-the-counter tickets.

Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA) CEO Berti Grobbelaar told SABC Sport the issue of ticket access for local football matches needs to be addressed.

"Obviously as the venue, we're involved in that process as well and I was in the discussions when it was said it was an intermittent problem, and that the system went offline," explained Grobbelaar.

READ: CAF set for African Super League launch

"But the fact is it created and will create massive problems in the future, if fans can't get hold of tickets, especially on matchday. Then you're confronted with fans arriving at the venue saying, 'We've been to three outlets and we can't gain access because we haven't got a valid ticket.' It's a massive problem that we need to address."

The problem of accessing tickets over the counter seems to be affecting teams that are using Computicket, while teams like Mamelodi Sundowns that are using TicketPro are not having any challenges. 

Just before the end of last season, SMSA introduced another ticketing company for its venues, Ticketmaster, but their challenge is that they only sell digital tickets and not over the counter.

READ: Riveiro reflects on winning start for Bucs

"Currently we on TicketMaster as a digital platform selling our tickets, but the fanbase have a need to buy tickets with cash over the counter, so we'll need to find alternatives, and I can promise you we're going to find alternatives," he added.

"It's a lot of stress, not only for the fans but for us as the venue, the clubs safety and security-wise, so we'll definitely find an alternative before the next fixture at our venues."

By Velile Mnyandu