UAE Crown Prince spends money to show off, prevents Qatar fans from entering the stadium
The tension in the Middle East region, specifically in the relationship between the UAE and Qatar, is causing many difficult situations for football fans...
At present, the diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar are tending to be tense. Amidst these uncertainties, the officials of the host country of the 2019 Asian Cup have just decided to... buy almost all the tickets for the match between the two teams in the 2019 Asian Cup semi-finals (estimated at around 40,000), in order to minimize the number of opponents' fans coming to the stadium.
The Abu Dhabi Sports Council (UAE) has also just issued an announcement stating that Crown Prince Nahyan bin Zayed has purchased and reserved all tickets for the upcoming Semi-final match of the host team with the reason of giving them to the loyal fans of this country's football.
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According to information from the UAE's The National website, all foreign fans who want to buy tickets to the upcoming match will be refused entry in an effort to make the upcoming clash between the two neighboring countries only for the host people.
Previously, about 1,000 Omani fans were said to have voiced their support for Qatar in the Semi-Final match. This is something that the UAE - one of the four countries boycotting Qatar - did not want and may have been the reason why this country immediately spent money to buy all the tickets.
Football fans are still waiting to see what FIFA will do when its regulations are seriously violated. According to FIFA rules, the total number of tickets for a match must be distributed to the away team.
The 2019 Asian Cup semi-final between Qatar and UAE will take place at 9:00 p.m. (Vietnam time) on January 29 at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium.
