Shillong, Aug 24: The football fever in the city of Shillong has reached another level, with fans queuing up to get their hands on tickets for the Northeast Derby match between Shillong Lajong FC and NorthEast United FC on Monday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong.

The first semi-final of Durand Cup 2024 was initially scheduled to be held in the City of Joy—Kolkata—but due to law and order situation and request of the Government of Meghalaya, along with thousands of passionate football fans, the organizers shifted the game to Shillong.

Following the venue shift, the organizers publicly opened ticket sales for Phase 1 online on Friday. The moment the tickets were released, they sold out in the blink of an eye.

The organizers then announced that Phase 2 tickets would be available for sale offline in three areas—Laitumkhrah, Khyndailad, and Golf Link—on Saturday at 2:00 PM. However, the Shillong fans could not wait until 2:00 PM and began lining up as early as 6:00 AM on Saturday morning. That’s another level of passion. It didn’t take long for the offline tickets to also sell out.

The angry fans who had lined up since morning started accusing those in power of hoarding the semi final tickets for their own ‘chamchas.’

Police had to take action and rushed to all ticket counters to prevent any unwanted consequences. However, as of now, nothing has been reported.

The JN Stadium once held 30,000 fans; the Durand Cup organizers should not have limited ticket sales, said one fan who had been queuing since morning.

Another said, “We have come from far; we will not return without tickets.”

The organizers have stopped selling tickets for now, and an unofficial source has informed that online tickets will be available again on Saturday around 8:00 PM.

The unofficial source has also confirmed that ticket sales will be made available again on Sunday, which means more tickets will be available for the home supporters.

Another unofficial source has informed that NorthEast United FC owner John Abraham will be coming for the match along with 6,000 away fans, which might explain the shortage of tickets for the home fans.

Read: UDP’s political survival in Meghalaya would largely depend on how it counters VPP’s rise in Khasi-Jaintia Hills

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