AFF Suzuki Cup final fever in the air

The stadium will be full, security will be tight and fans can expect an epic battle in the AFF Suzuki Cup final first leg between Thailand and Malaysia at the Rajamangala Stadium here tomorrow night.

Tickets for the match were sold out long ago.

Deputy Secretary-General of the Football Association of Thailand, Theerapong Wattanawongpinyo said Thailand normally allocated 3,000 tickets to the away team and this time none had been returned.

"In this match, the Malaysian side did not return any tickets. Therefore this time we will have no tickets to sell at the stadium unlike last time when the Philippines returned some tickets to us to sell," he told a press conference here today.

He said police and soldiers will be deployed to ensure security at the stadium which can seat 50,000 fans.

However, he declined to reveal the number (security personnel) citing security reasons.

Theerapong said "ghost ticket sellers" (scalpers) would face stern action.

"We will have serious measures to handle those "ghost ticket sellers". If we find out they are selling tickets in front of the stadium, they will be definitely arrested," he warned.

The question about scalpers arose as tickets for the first leg were sold out within the first hour after they were offered to the Thai public on Dec 12.

This led to a netizen posting a video clip that questioned why the tickets were sold out but at the same time some websites or parties still posted on Internet about the sale of the tickets but higher prices.

The netizens criticised those who allowed this kind of thing to occurr as it was disrespectful to football fans who wanted to watch the game but could not buy tickets from the normal venues or channels.

The second leg of the final will be held in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 20.