- Title: Ticketless fans resort to watching Morocco vs Spain outside stadium
- Date: 6th December 2022
- Summary: AL RAYYAN, QATAR (DECEMBER 6, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FOOTBALL FANS WATCHING MOROCCO VS SPAIN MATCH VARIOUS OF CHILD SITTING ON MAN'S SHOULDERS CHEERING, HOLDING MOROCCO FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOROCCAN WHO TRAVELED FROM MOROCCO FOR THE WORLD CUP, MOURAD KAZDARI, SAYING: "I see them try, but no... If we talk about the law, about reality, how do you get into the stadiu
- Embargoed: 20th December 2022 16:28
- Keywords: FIFA Morocco - Spain Qatar World Cup 2022 stadiums tickets
- Location: AL RAYYAN, QATAR
- City: AL RAYYAN, QATAR
- Country: Qatar
- Topics: Middle East,Sport,World Cup
- Reuters ID: LVA001485906122022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of ticketless Morocco fans on Tuesday (December 6) resorted to watching their team's last-16 match against Spain on a screen outside the raucous Education City Stadium.
"You have to accept reality and watch outdoors, it's fine. We are having fun, whether outside or in the stadium," said Mourad Kazdari, who travelled to Qatar from Morocco.
The last Arab and African side left in World Cup, Morocco has been willed on by some of the most impassioned fans at the tournament, many of whom live and work in Qatar and are hoping to see their team advance to its first quarter-final.
"To be honest, this problem started a week ago. We are looking for tickets and we did not find any. The stadium is very full of people," said Jawad Aniny who lives in Qatar.
Another Morocco fan, Amri Abdelatif, said he travelled to Qatar from the U.S. to watch the game. "We saw the first match (Morocco vs. Canada), but unfortunately, for this latest match there were no tickets, so it is a bit hard."
Moroccans have been flying into Qatar for their team's knockout World Cup match against Spain on Tuesday even as fans already in the country have been scrambling for tickets, adding to the demand for seats in a potential challenge for the organizers.
Desperate to attend the match against 2010 champions Spain, more than 1,000 Moroccan fans gathered at the official ticketing office on Monday (December 5) night.
(Production: Charlotte Bruneau, Isabella Ronca) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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