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Fans upset about ticket sales

by Sarah Segal and Leila Hanaumi on September 5, 2009

While numerous fans sat inside the stadium, watching with eager eyes as the 2009 Taipei Deaflympics Opening Ceremony began, countless more were shut out from the event. When the ceremony began at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, ticketless fans from a total of 91 participating countries either piled into a smaller, indoor arena adjacent to the stadium to watch the ceremony on a smaller screen or watched the JumboTron hugging the stadium exterior. The presence of the JumboTrons and periodic views of athletes afforded ticketless fans from various countries as well as local passersby the opportunity to be part of the event. However, several people stuck outside expressed disappointment. Some were even angry. “It’s ridiculous how many hearing people are in there right now!” an American fan said. “We, as Deaf fans of Deaflympics, should have the ticket priority.” As those with tickets entered Taipei Stadium, a huge crowd gathered in front of the stadium, communicating through Universal Sign Language and watching the show on the JumboTrons. Many complained to each other about the shortage of tickets, and repeated rumors that up to 90 percent of the audience inside the stadium were hearing. A group of Swedish and French fans even demanded to see the ticketing supervisor to negotiate entry for a large group of ticketless fans, but it was too late. Every seat in the stadium was already taken. Officials offered the smaller indoor space as an alternative, but many chose to remain outdoors. Disgusted, the Swedes and French complained that even the opening ceremony itself was almost completely for hearing people. “Where were the interpreters or more deaf performers?” they said. “Purchasing tickets online was a problem,” Laurent Valo added. Although he was able to snatch a ticket of his own, he said he still felt badly for those not as fortunate. “The information on the website was not clear at all, and [customers] would reach a dead end whenever they were about to order tickets.”
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