Fans upset after S'pore vs Thailand football tickets sell out in minutes, reselling at up to S$1,500 a pair

Fans slammed the ticketing system after failing to get tickets to the Asean Championship semi-final between Singapore and Thailand at Jalan Besar Stadium.

Tickets for the Aug. 15 football game went on sale at 11am on Aug. 12 exclusively through the online platform Tickethotline.

More than 4,000 home-supporter tickets were released, according to The Straits Times.

Due to overwhelming demand, they were snapped up almost immediately after sales started.

Soon after, tickets popped up on Carousell, offered for resale at as much as S$1,500 for a pair of Cat 1 tickets.

That is about 15 times more than their original price at S$49 each along with a S$3.49 booking fee.

Like 'playing whack-a-mole'

A Mothership reader said she was on the website waiting to snag tickets from 10:45am that morning.

After joining a virtual queue, she had to wait again until around 11:20am when she finally entered the page to select her seats.

There, it was a fight to get one.

When a section of tickets became available, it would light up on the page. But when she clicked on it, the light would disappear quickly as the seats got suddenly taken.

She likened the experience to "playing whack-a-mole", which was echoed by several other fans on Instagram.

She spent the next 40 minutes chasing for a seat to no avail.

By 11:45am, the platform informed her that all seats were "currently reserved by customers completing their purchases".

'Extremely frustrating'

When the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) thanked fans on Instagram for their support in purchasing tickets, many expressed their frustration in the comments.

A user claimed they entered the ticketing page at 10:50am that morning and was not able to select any seat.

Another shared that they were waiting on the platform since 10:30am, but all the tickets were gone when it got to their turn.

Many speculated that people were using bots to grab tickets fast and then resell at high prices later.

They called for FAS to improve the ticketing system to clamp down on bots and scalpers.

"We understand that demand is high, but it is really frustrating for genuine Singapore fans who make the effort to queue early and still cannot secure tickets," an Instagram user commented.

"Could FAS please look into the ticket allocation, queue system and measures to prevent scalping/reselling at inflated prices?"

Those who did not manage to grab tickets can still watch the game live on MeWatch, and at community screenings at venues across Singapore, including Bishan Community Club, Our Tampines Hub, and One Punggol.