Man United fans queue for 'awful seats' at top dollar
Less than half the tickets to Kitchee game are for the public - and located in corners of stadium
It was bad enough that less than half of the tickets to watch Manchester United play in Hong Kong this summer were reserved for the public. But now fans are even more upset to learn that even the most expensive ticket will only buy them a seat in the corners of the stadium, not a preferred midfield location.
The English Premier League team is due to play a friendly match against the local Kitchee side on July 29, in front of 40,000 spectators. But only 18,000 tickets were made available for sale to the public, and they sold out in 4-1/2 hours yesterday, priced from HK$330 to HK$990.
Manchester United reserved 11,000 tickets, with some going to title sponsor Aon and some to attract overseas supporters.
Kitchee organised the match, with HK$8 million from the Tourism Commission's Mega Events Fund to help pay the costs. The Tourism Board was given 4,000 tickets available to travel agents who need to develop packages before applying to buy the tickets. A Tourism Commission spokesman said the "18,000 tickets allocated for the public is comparable to similar top-class football matches held in the past."
A Kitchee spokeswoman said the tickets were meted out by the government and Manchester United, not the local football club. Kitchee was allocated 3,600 tickets to be shared with others in the local football community.
