Image credit : Illustrative Image

Irate football lovers turned violent over the non-availability of tickets for the opening match of the ISL between Kerala Blasters and Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday.

The situation turned ugly when the fans were informed that there were no tickets for sale through counters. Irate fans raised slogans and took out a protest march. Police had to remove them from the vicinity of the stadium.

While the authorities claimed that they had informed in advance that tickets would be sold online, protesters claimed that agents had sold the tickets at a higher price. “The organisers told that the tickets would be sold through the counters, based on which we all came and stood in queue. Later they informed that except VIP tickets, all tickets were sold out,” said a fan.

The tickets were in great demand as Bollywood stars Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif were present for the inaugural ceremony.