IMAGE: Sourav Ganguly. Photograph:BCCICricket Association of Bengal (CAB) will not back off from hosting the first Twenty20 between India and the West Indies on November 4, said president Sourav Ganguly, asserting that tickets will be distributed as per previous arrangement.
"The match is on. Tickets have already gone for printing and now nothing can be done. It will stay as it is," Ganguly told reporters at Eden Gardens.
According to the newly-registered Board of Control for Cricket in India constitution, 90 per cent tickets of the total capacity of the stadium should be put on public sale, while only 10 per cent can be availed as complimentary.
The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) has already refused to host the second ODI between the two teams October 24, citing lack of clarity on release of tickets and complimentary passes.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Ganguly said they also cannot compromise on the issue.
"I completely understand the problems faced by MPCA and I'm totally with them, because the practical problems are never understood. Their claim is completely legitimate," Ganguly had said earlier.
About 30,000 tickets from Eden's capacity of 67,000 are distributed as complimentary passes including to government agencies like Kolkata Police, the Corporation and Fire brigade.
"I cannot go and ask the government agencies, bureaucrats -- people who make the match happen -- to collect tickets and pay. If they want (to take the game away), they can. But we are not going to compromise," Ganguly has said.
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