BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

HASSANAL Bolkiah Trophy (HBT) 2014 officials yesterday warned that individuals selling the free HBT match tickets may face legal action. They were reacting to reports of alleged sale of free tickets through social media.

When contacted by The Brunei Times, a senior official who preferred anonymity said they have received reports of individuals making money by selling free tickets for $5 to $10.

“We are of course disappointed that there are individuals who are taking advantage of His Majesty the Sultan Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s goodwill,” the official said.

“This matter is being looked into very seriously and we’ll be discussing it with the Royal Brunei Police Force and Attorney General’s Chamber on the possible legal action against such individuals.”

The issue came to light when a netizen, known as ‘HA’, posted on Facebook page ‘Cerita Panas Harian Brunei’ and said was tricked into buying tickets for the match between Brunei and Indonesia.

“Someone sold me six tickets for $20 but apparently the tickets were counterfeit. So be careful not to fall into this trap like I did,” he advised other netizens.

Another netizen ‘Shin Hyo Jin’ agreed with the HBT official that this was a serious issue because some unscrupulous elements who had tickets were misusing the privilege given to them.

Another netizen Nurul Mustapha was of the opinion that the HBT officials can’t be blamed for this unethical practice and advised the football aficionados to be vigilant against such touts.

“The tickets have been already clearly labelled as complementary, so the officials have already done their part,” she said.

“They should not be held responsible if you ‘purchased’ it from someone,” she said.

Netizen Enna Telna, questioned how ‘HA’ knew the ticket was counterfeit and why the person even wanted to buy it.

“Has he been banned from entering the stadium? How can he know of this when the match has not even started yet?” Enna asked.

“If the ticket really was not real then show it to the organising committee. Perhaps, the person did not queue up for the ticket and opted to buy it instead.”

The Brunei Times