Riots in Nigeria Over Overpriced Football Tickets

After riots in front of the stadium, the organisers let those without tickets watch the match, after which people calmed down.

Before a friendly match between Manchester United and Portsmouth held in the Nigerian town of Abuja, citizens clashed with police because of the high price of tickets, the BBC reported.

The English premier league teams organised a match in Nigeria as part of their preparations, but also to promote football on the African continent. But the teams had no understanding with the fact that they were not playing in Japan or the United States, rather in a poor country. So they asked for some 1.5 million euros for the match.

The organisers evidently overlooked the fact that the average annual income in Nigeria was less than what the least paid player of the teams was paid in a day. So the clash with the police included throwing bottles, tear gas, stones and a lot of injured people.

After riots in front of the stadium, the organisers finally allowed those without tickets to enter and watch the match. The people calmed down and the organisers announced that the prices of tickets would be lower in the future.

As far as the match was concerned, it was not overly exciting. Manchester United won 2:1 with goals from Carlos Tevez and Chris Eagles.

Although this gesture, matches of great teams in Africa, may sound noble, in practice it is not because everybody is familiar with the situation in Africa and to go there to earn money is truly offensive.