No joke: Sold out!
-- No ticket? Stay home
By Faizool Deo
Guyana Chronicle
April 1, 2007
TODAY’S encounter between home team West Indies and Sri Lanka is sold out and the Local Organising Committee of the Cricket World Cup (CWC) is appealing to persons without tickets to stay home, for the simple reason that there is none left to buy.
Those persons with tickets are encouraged to get to the stadium early so that they can get into the ground on time.
Chairman of the LOC and Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, said people should not wait half-an-hour before the match to get to the ground.
“The earlier the better -- we want to avoid queues.”
The main concern at a press briefing yesterday at the LOC office on Middle Street was that of keeping the packed house hydrated.
Anthony, a medical doctor, said there will be five gallon bottles of water at the ground and persons will be given water for free.
But he and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the LOC Karan Singh suggested that persons should also walk with water.
Water in plastic bottles (even those with labels on) are now allowed in the stadium, but according to the LOC members, International Cricket Council regulations restrict the corks from the bottles being passed though the gates with the bottle. It therefore means that all water bottles will be stripped of their corks at the gates.
The LOC members were not sure if there was a limit on the number of bottles a person can carry in, but Singh said three bottles per person might be passed at the gate.
What was certain is that the LOC wants patrons to have fun, but they must comply with the rules of the ICC on the prohibited items.
The prohibited items are: dangerous weapons and imitation weapons, firearms and imitation firearms, knives, explosives, fireworks and flares, alcohol, incendiary devices, illegal drugs or narcotics, mace or pepper spray, can and tins and PET (plastic) bottles other than water in the plastic bottles, or insect repellent or sun screen in either of the three; megaphones, compressed air or gas operated horns and flag poles, cooler boxes larger than 12”x12”x12” and they must be soft and collapsible since no hard or rigid cooler boxes would be allowed.
Glass containers are also banned and only those containing medication or insect repellent will be allowed.
Collapsible personal umbrellas will be permitted, as will be banners and flags up to 5’ x 3’ long, providing that, in the opinion of the CWC they are not vulgar, political, racial, discriminatory, sexual in nature, or display advertising which conflict with the rights of the partners/sponsors/suppliers/vendors of the event (in any language), or deemed to be offensive to the other spectators.
The only animals allowed into the stadium will be guide dogs, while only small transistor radios with ear pieces or headphones will be allowed.
ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed on Friday called on musicians and merry-makers, who traditionally entertain crowds at Caribbean cricket matches, to ‘bring in the noise’ to the present World Cup.
“There is a protocol to allow musical items (into venues). We want the Caribbean atmosphere to be here.”
He pointed out that the security measures were common for major sporting events all around the world.
“We don’t seek to take the West Indian flavour out of it. We want to hear that noise. We want to hear that enthusiasm.”
Persons can now carry conch shells, shak shaks and other instruments into the stadium with permission from the LOC.