Ticketing Turmoil Tarnishes Fans' Experience for Tickify Failure Ahead of Bangladesh-Singapore Match
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qualifiers are set to kick off on June 10, with Bangladesh facing Singapore in a much-anticipated encounter. However, football fans seeking to secure their tickets online for the match have been met with repeated technical troubles and digital disappointment.
This marks the first time the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) is using an online platform for ticket sales, partnering with the digital ticketing service provider Tickify. Yet, instead of convenience, fans have largely faced inconvenience.
Upon accessing the Tickify website, fans are greeted with the message, “You are in line. Thank you for having patience,” displayed prominently after clicking the Bangladesh-Singapore match option. Some users, after multiple attempts, encounter messages such as “502 Bad Gateway” or “500 Internal Server Error,” further compounding the frustration.
Initially, the announcement of online ticket sales raised hopes for a smoother ticketing experience. But those hopes have since been overshadowed by widespread complaints about technical issues.
According to reports, ticket sales were originally scheduled to begin at 12:00 PM on Saturday but were later postponed to 8:00 PM. Even then, many users were unable to access the website or complete their purchase, with some failing to obtain tickets at the final stage after inputting all required information.
The chaos sparked criticism on social media, with many users sharing their frustrating experiences. After three hours of attempting ticket sales, the company temporarily suspended the service, citing a cyberattack as the reason. Almost 48 hours later, Tickify resumed ticket sales at 10:00 PM on Monday—but to little avail. Fans once again found themselves staring at a virtual queue screen with no progress.
Earlier on Monday morning, BFF President Tabith Awal had stated that ticket sales would resume at 10:00 PM. Yet, as soon as the clock struck ten, the same digital issues reappeared.
A post on the Facebook page of "Save Bangladesh Football," a prominent fan group, read: “Although ticket sales were supposed to resume at 10 PM today, general fans have complained that they still haven’t received tickets. Some even allege that the server displays different updates at different times. For a high-voltage match like this, such ticketing woes are truly disappointing for ordinary fans.”
As excitement builds around the qualifier match, many are left questioning whether the digital approach to ticketing has lived up to its promise—or simply sidelined the very fans it aimed to serve.
