DOHA, Qatar (AP) 鈥 Problems with FIFA鈥檚 mobile application for World Cup tickets caused hundreds of fans to miss the start of England's match against Iran on Monday.
Fans said their tickets had disappeared from their phone apps and lines began to form outside the Khalifa International Stadium about an hour before the 4 p.m. kickoff in Doha.
Although some fans had their ticket purchase verified with email checks, others appeared to have been sent into the stadium without further checks.
The lines cleared at a ticketing help desk about 30 minutes into the game. It was unclear if each ticket holder鈥檚 problem was resolved or if fans had simply been sent in to see the game.
鈥淎ll the tickets I have have disappeared," Avinash Fernando of Sri Lanka told The Associated Press.
He and a friend, Chathura Perera, each had seven tickets for the tournament vanish.
Another fan, who gave only his first name Farhood, said his tickets had gone.
"I don鈥檛 have them anymore on the app. It might have been a hacker, I鈥檓 not sure,鈥 he said.
FIFA acknowledged in a statement that 鈥渟ome spectators are currently experiencing an issue with accessing their tickets.鈥
鈥淭he issue is no tickets on the app," England fan John Eastern told the AP. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure I鈥檒l get in.鈥
While the fans were waiting outside, play had stopped for about seven minutes to deal with Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand's facial injury. He continued playing briefly but then was substituted.
As the kickoff approached, FIFA advised fans to check the inbox of the email account they used to register with the ticketing app.
鈥淚n case fans cannot access their email accounts, the stadium鈥檚 Ticket Resolution Point will be able to support,鈥 FIFA said.
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