Barça's ticketing system fails and causes chaos

BarcelonaThe second match at the Spotify Camp Nou was marred by chaos due to a problem with the app from which members were supposed to download their tickets. An hour before kickoff, the tickets disappeared from the app, causing kilometer-long queues outside the Fan Services Office at the stadium, where the club had promised to deliver them in person. The club even asked La Liga to delay the start of the match, as thousands of fans were still queuing when the ball started rolling, but the league refused.

"We've been queuing for 35 minutes and there's only one person helping people," said Marc, a club member who was whistling as he realized he'd miss the start of the match. The club explained that "the problem has been resolved by sending all members with tickets for today's game a PDF with their tickets," but many members still hadn't received anything, so in the end, they decided to allow members to enter, as soon as they could. "They checked my membership card and now we're not even sure where to sit, and we won't be able to sit together," said Roc, who ended up in a seat far from his father.

Some fans ended up sitting on the stadium steps, and security personnel told them they had to move. Well into the first half, some fans were still complaining, as club staff had told them they had run out of paper to print tickets.

"We apologize. We detected a slowdown in the system. You have to understand that we are in a new stadium and that we are implementing a new access system. Unfortunately, the technology hasn't kept up. It's a learning experience for us," said the institutional vice president in charge. "There were 7,500 fans. We tried to help them. We reacted, and well into the match, they were able to enter the stadium. There are about 300 who didn't get in; we don't know if they left or didn't receive assistance. The OAB will contact them individually to find out what happened," she added.

The chaos led to chants against Joan Laporta's board and complaints from various pre-candidates in the upcoming elections, such as Víctor Font, in a match where, for the first time, there were visiting fans, with 470 Alavés supporters.