Qatar’s World Cup organisers have again been exposed making things up after a laughable claim for the opening contest of Matchday 4.
New York Times reporter Tariq Panja shared a photo of the crowd at the Al Bayt Stadium for Morocco’s clash with Croatia to open up Group F, which he described as “half-empty”.
“Morocco fans making decent sound in Al Khor even though stadium is about half full/empty for this game,” he tweeted.
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“Perhaps organizers had tension between having enough accommodation and letting ticket-less fans enter country to buy on arrival? Small local pop(ulation) means games not full.”
But not long later the World Cup claimed 59,407 fans were in attendance – at a stadium with a maximum capacity of 60,000.
“It isn’t (59,407). Unless there are some tiny, tiny people sitting in those thousands of empty seats,” Panja quipped.
It followed a bizarre trend of claiming many thousands more fans were inside the stadiums than could even fit on the opening two days.
The official crowds announced for the opening four matches were:
— Qatar vs Ecuador – 67,372 – official capacity of Al Bayt Stadium is 60,000
— England vs Iran – 45,334 – official capacity of Khalifas International Stadium is 40,000
— Netherlands vs Senegal – 41,721 – official capacity of Al Thumama Stadium is 40,000
— USA vs Wales – 43,418 – official capacity of Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium is 40,000
Which saw some 17,845 fans created out of thin air – and, of course, it’s worth pointing out that there were empty portions of those stands during those matches too.
