Blame game over chaos

Hyderabad: There was utter chaos at the Gymkhana Grounds on Thursday during the sale of tickets for India-Australia cricket match to be held at Uppal Cricket stadium on Sunday. But no one is willing to take the responsibility for the bedlam.

Though 20 people were injured, Hyderabad Cricket Association president Mohd Azharuddin reacted saying 'when such big events take place some small incidents happen'.

He could not explain why the chaos took place and why no proper arrangements for the sale of offline tickets were not made and the reason for lack of coordination among different administrative wings.

When asked, he lost his cool saying, "I have no time to sit here and chit chat. I have to organise the match. It's not easy to organise a match. If I have to hit 100, I should be in the ground. No point you guys always talking negative." All that he said was that the stampede was an unfortunate incident.

The state government too woke up late and blamed the HCA for what all had happened. Sports Minister K Srinivas Goud said a committee would go into the matter and fix the responsibility. While Azhar said the HCA had taken police permission for the sale of tickets as it would attract huge crowds, the police said they had no prior information and hence could not make proper arrangements.

It is also not known as to how many tickets were allocated for the sale and how many have been sold. Sports analysts say that it is the responsibility of the HCA and all tickets would be under his control only. But when asked, Azhar said he was not sure about the details and would give them later.

It is being alleged that a good number of tickets would have been distributed to club secretaries as the elections were due soon.

Srinivas Goud said it was HCA's failure and the association will take the responsibility of providing medical treatment to the injured who were admitted to hospitals in the city. In the meeting held with the HCA, the minister warned the HCA of action if any irregularities were found in the sale of tickets. An official committee was formed to probe the entire episode, he said. He further said that he along with officials would visit the Uppal Stadium on Saturday to review the arrangements for the smooth conduct of the match.