It is progress that is holding Qatar back. Digital ticket failure sees return to handwritten paper passes

November 23 – Qatar’s efforts to apply modern techniques and digitise all tickets to make World Cup organisation run more smoothly have taken another hit after handwritten paper tickets had to be handed out to fans for the second day running.

Problems with FIFA’s mobile app reportedly caused chaos among fans attending the France versus Australia match in Al Wakrah.

The Associated Press reported that some fans were advised to show security staff their emails from FIFA confirming their seat numbers in order to get in Al Janoub Stadium ahead of kickoff.

FIFA acknowledged that “alternative solutions (were) being provided”.

“FIFA’s service provider is working on solving the issue that some spectators are facing with the FIFA Ticketing app as soon as possible,” it said.

It was the second day of glitches following hundreds of fans being affected at the Iran-England fixture on Monday.

Many reported that their tickets had abruptly disappeared from their phones and could not be retrieved and had to have the situation resolved in front of a sign marked ‘Ticket Resolution Point’ in central Doha.

Marciel Hernandez, a 64-year-old soccer fan from Mexico City, told AP the app problems forced him to miss the first 20 minutes of the England-Iran game.

“I’ve been to six World Cups and I’ve never had any kinds of problems like this,” he said, adding that two of his tickets had failed to show up on his mobile app. “These are important matches I could miss. I spend my whole life savings on the World Cup.”

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