Hundreds of tickets for the India vs Pakistan cricket match at the Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai remained unsold on the morning of the game, which is unusual for a match between the South Asian archrivals.
Tickets for the 7:30pm (14:30 GMT) game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium were available on Sunday on the tournament's official ticketing website, with less than eight hours to go.
Al Jazeera reported that there were dozens of tickets available for $205 in the premium stand and $245 in the east and west pavilion stands. Seats were also available at one of several hospitality stands for $1,645 each.
While the tournament's organisers, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), have not issued an official statement regarding the unsold tickets, local fans blame the hot weather in the Gulf nation as a major deterrent.
"September is one of the hottest months in this part of the world, with high temperatures and extreme humidity, making it difficult to be outdoors even in the evenings," Shahid Khan, a Dubai resident, told Al Jazeera.
"While players may be paid to play in this weather, fans must spend a significant amount of money to purchase tickets. Why would they do that to endure the heat?"
The temperature is expected to reach 36 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) in the evening, near the start time of the match, with humidity reaching 50%.
Al Jazeera contacted the ACC, but was told that the official ticket sales figures would be confirmed once the match began, and no comment would be made until then.
Cricket experts believe that the highly strained political relations between India and Pakistan, which were involved in a violent four-day cross-border conflict in May, are also to blame.
"Some fans have decided to boycott the fixture in order to register their protest against their government's decision to go ahead with the match despite the ongoing bitterness against the neighbour," Indian cricket writer Kuldip Lal told Al Jazeera in the run-up to the game.
While it is not uncommon to see empty seats in cricket matches in the UAE, tickets for an India-Pakistan men's cricket match in any part of the world usually sell out quickly.
Typically, tickets sell out within a few hours of going on sale, particularly for global and regional tournaments like the ICC World Cup and the Asia Cup.
Fans are known to go to great lengths, including paying exorbitant prices on resale platforms and the black market, to obtain a ticket.
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