In just over a month’s time, Jakarta will host the opening ceremony of the 2018 Asian Games. It promises to be a significant start to a historic sporting event for the capital, but it might be out of reach to a large percentage of the city’s citizens due to the steep entrance fee.
Tickets for the opening ceremony, which is going to be held at the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Stadium on August 18, are now available online. The tickets come in three categories and prices: Category A, which costs IDR5 million; Category B, which costs IDR1.5 million; and Category C, which costs IDR750K.
Vice Governor Sandiaga Uno said he was surprised at how expensive the tickets are and promised to discuss the matter with the event’s organizers, the Indonesian Asian Games 2018 Organizing Committee (INASGOC).
“For the tickets, I don’t have an update because before I went [on an official trip to the US last week] the prices hadn’t been agreed upon. But we’ll check if the IDR1.5 million price is for VIPs, while the upper tiers can be cheaper,” he told the press yesterday, as quoted by Detik.
“One of the things we focused on was eliminating taxes on tickets so that they are more affordable.”
Sandiaga added that he’s worried about a lack of spectators throughout the Games due to exorbitant ticket prices. INASGOC has yet to publicly announce anything regarding ticket prices.
Tickets for individual events at the Asian Games are also now available through third party online ticket sellers like Kiostix. On their website, the cheapest tickets go for IDR75K for basketball, volleyball and athletics qualifiers, while the most expensive tickets go for up to IDR800K for the badminton finals.
The 2018 Asian Games is being co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2. The closing ceremony will also be held at GBK Stadium in Jakarta.
(USD1=IDR14,500)
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