The more than 11,000 fans expected to catch FIFA Under-20 World Cup action today will be able to enter Royal Athletic Park through a third gate, in a move organizers hope will speed the process.
Many fans were annoyed by lengthy delays Sunday -- when Group F play opened at the park -- mostly due to extensive security checks required for FIFA events. But organizers say the security checks are essential.
"We're opening an extra gate to help alleviate the long lineups people experienced Sunday, but the issue still is that people need to get to the park very, very early," said Harold McNeill, chairman of the Victoria site organizing committee.
"FIFA has already warned us that we need to be more diligent in our security with the checks at the gates and that takes time to do. If fans arrive half an hour before the first game, I can't guarantee they will get in before the opening kick-off. That's just the way it is."
Another capacity crowd is expected today when Japan plays Costa Rica at 5 p.m. and Scotland meets Nigeria at 7:45 p.m. in Group F. Gates open at 3 p.m.
Complaints on Sunday mostly stemmed from concerns about inadequate publicity about the potential for delays, and the number of items banned from the park under FIFA rules.
Those included food and drink, musical instruments more than 60 centimetres in length or height, umbrellas and long camera lenses. Long lenses aren't allowed in stadiums at FIFA events because of concerns about unauthorized pictures being sold commercially. Confiscated items are held at the gate for later pickup.
"I don't recall seeing anything about fans needing to arrive two hours early for an event where they would be sequestered for well over five hours," wrote Andrew Spray to the sa国际传媒.
Another fan, Eric Jones, complained that he missed 35 minutes of the Scotland-Japan game because of the security delays. "A person in the line ahead of me said if this had happened in Europe there would have been a riot," he wrote.
Others were annoyed that while the Scotland supporters were not allowed to bring in bagpipes, the Nigerian fans were able to bring in their musical instruments -- which met the size requirements.
The Victoria organizing committee has applied for an exemption to allow bagpipes and Nigerian trumpets into the park tonight, said McNeill, and a ruling from FIFA is expected today.
McNeill said CBC has also been asked to display the figures on a video scoreboard in larger characters and for longer periods. Some fans complained the score and time remaining were hard to read on the screen, which hangs by a crane behind the east-end goal.
Tonight's doubleheader is technically sold out, but small batches of unused sponsor and VIP tickets are expected to be released for sale throughout the day.
Victoria is one of six venues for the 2007 Under-20 World Cup, the largest sporting event sa国际传媒 has hosted outside the Olympics and Commonwealth and Pan Am Games. Ticket sales yesterday surpassed one million.
