Tickets for Man City-Vietnam match not yet a ‘hot cake’ as expected

July 13, 2015 | 14:42

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‘A possible fever’ from football fans hunting for a ticket to watch the friendly match between English Premier League side Manchester City and the Vietnamese men’s national football team in two weeks has not occurred in the last few days.

Expensive prices are likely the main reason.

Ticket sales started on July 10, but only 50 people have visited the office of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to book wholesale purchases.

This is quite different from the match with Arsenal in 2013, when thousands of fans queued up in long lines while jostling one another to buy tickets.

Tran Duc Linh said he went to the VFF to book 30 tickets for his workplace, lender Agribank, in Hanoi. Others came to book several tickets each.

The match tickets are available at four prices – VND1.8 million (US$83), VND1.5 million ($69), VND1 million ($46) and VND600,000 ($27.6).

Prices for the match against Arsenal two years ago were VND1.5 million ($69), VND1 million ($46), VND700,000 ($32) and VND400,000 ($18).

SHB Bank, the main sponsor and one of the organizers of the Manchester City match, holds 10,000 tickets for the game, or a quarter of the total volume.

Dang Trung Dung, deputy general director of SHB, explained that his agency has not planned to profit from the match because he considers this a non-profit activity.

“It cost SHB a big sum to bring Manchester City to Vietnam as well as other costs for transport, security and accommodation.

“The high ticket prices are not for recovering the costs, but for matching the value and the trademark of Manchester City,” Dung added.

It was reported that SHB and other sponsors paid around $1.55 million to bring the Citizens to Hanoi.

The game kicks off at 8:00 pm on July 27 in the Vietnamese capital city.

In 2013, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group spent around $2.3 million to invite Arsenal to Vietnam.

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