Qatar’s World Cup organisers have once again been exposed for inflating attendance figures at stadiums with one photo truly telling the story.
The World Cup host nation had been caught earlier this week having adding a fair few more fans into the seats.
Multiple games were announced as having attendance figures much larger than the official capacities of their stadiums.
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And on matchday four, Morocco's clash with Croatia showcased yet another instance of Qatar potentially inflating numbers.
New York Times reporter Tariq Panja attended Al Bayt Stadium for the Group F matchup in which he described the venue as ‘half empty’.
He tweeted: “Morocco fans (are) making decent sound in Al Khor even though stadium is about half full/empty for this game.
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“Perhaps organisers had tension between having enough accommodation and letting ticketless fans enter (the) country to buy on arrival? Small local pop(ulation) means games not full.”
However, not long after the attendance figures were announced at 59,407, despite the stadium having an official maximum capacity of 60,000.
Something doesn’t quite add up.
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Panja added: “Official attendance, they tell us, is 59,407. It isn't. Unless there are some tiny, tiny people sitting in those thousands of empty seats.”
It comes after photos taken during Netherlands’ 2-0 win over Senegal showed entire sections of the stadium empty when the Dutch were celebrating a late goal.
Meanwhile, other games were announced as fitting in more people thant the actual official capacities of the stadiums.
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The opening game of the World Cup was announced as having 67,372 in attendance whereas the official capacity of Al Bayt Stadium is 60,000.
England against Iran was announced as having 45,334 watching in the stadium, while the Khalifas International Stadium only officially holds 40,000.
And USA’s fixture against Wales was held in a 40,000-capacity Ahamd Bin Ali Stadium with an announced attendance of 43,418.
Fans clearly haven’t been happen with the inflated figures.
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One commented: "The amount of empty seats at every stadium genuinely makes this tournament feel like the covid Euros."
Canadian journalist Joe Callaghan noted, "We’re 30mins in at Al Thumama Stadium and there are still banks and rows of empty seats. This is arguably the best game of the first week, in joint-smallest venue. If they can’t sell this one out…"
Another added: “I thought Man City were bad for faking attendance figures but Qatar are somehow getting more people than the stadium even holds.”
SPORTbible reached out to Qatar for comment.
Featured Image Credit: @tariqpanja/Twitter. PA Images / Alamy.Topics: Football, Football World Cup, Qatar
