However, an outdated ticketing system that left thousands of football fans enraged after failing to purchase tickets for the Malaysia-Thailand final match tonight, has become a black spot in the history of national sports.

The decision by the Malaysia SEA Games Organising Committee (Masoc) to sell football tickets only at the Shah Alam Stadium, the venue of the final, has angered supporters of the national squad, particularly those from the rural areas, who travelled for hours to get to the stadium on time, only to leave empty-handed.

Internet users have also come down hard on the organisers, posting stinging criticism on various social media platforms, of the committee’s shortcomings.

Addressing the fiasco, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin took to Twitter to explain that the initial plan was to sell the tickets online, as was done for the semifinals.

“On the issue of the football final tickets, we had intended for some to be sold online. That was the practice for all games before the final,” Khairy tweeted.

However, the night before the tickets were sold, Khairy said he was informed that the online payment gateway provider could not guarantee a stable process because of the sheer volume of users.

“They were concerned people would transact payments and not get tickets because of the sheer volume. They could not guarantee stability,” Khairy said.

He added that after assessing the information received, it was decided that tickets would only be sold at the match venue until all was sold out.

“I had a decision to make with the information given to me. Without a stable online payment gateway, a decision was made to sell all at the SSA (Shah Alam Stadium).

“At SSA, we sold all tickets until it had to be suspended when the barricades were breached.”

He said that tickets sales only resumed after FRU (Federal Reserve Unit) troops arrived.

Masoc’s decision however has been relentlessly criticised, mostly because of  the existence of ticket touts, who made bulk purchases and re-sold the tickets at exorbitant prices to generate excessive profits for themselves.

It is understood that ticket touts were able to re-sell tickets priced at RM21.20 for between RM120 to RM250 each.

It was also learnt that only several ticket counters were opened although the statement issued by Masoc earlier had promised that 20 would be opened from as early as 11am yesterday.

Many questions are now being asked as to how such an incident could have occurred in the first place.

Was it because the organisers had not planned well in advance for the sale of tickets? Who appointed the supplier of the online payment transaction?

Who should take responsibility for the problem which has now resulted in thousands of fans leaving empty-handed despite wasting an entire day lining up to purchase the tickets?

Bernama reported yesterday that about 5,000 supporters of the Malaysian team, had queued at the stadium to purchase the tickets, some from as early as 3am.

According to the report, there was a mad rush by supporters, many of whom jumped queue once the ticket counters were opened.

What is even more regrettable is that Masoc has so far remained tight-lipped about the fiasco, and not issued an official statement to explain the real problems they were faced with.

Its chief executive officer, Zolkples Embong, when contacted by Bernama yesterday, declined to comment.

Hardcore national football fans “Ultras Malaya”, long regarded as the backbone of Harimau Malaya have been understandably outraged.

“They have taken pains, worked hard to obtain the tickets but could not get them because of the weaknesses in the ticket sales system by the organisers,” Ultras Malaya wrote on their official Facebook page.

Unfortunately, this fiasco with tickets sales is not an isolated incident as the same occurred during the Malaysia Cup and FA Cup finals.

Yesterday’s incident is a stark reminder that the country’s technological expertise leaves much to be desired.

It is time we pull up our socks and prove to the world that we can organise a regional sporting event efficiently and reliably. Until then, yesterday’s incident will continue to leave a bitter taste in the people’s mouths for a long time to come.