Ticketek caused a Covid-19 nightmare for the NRL on Friday night after a system glitch created a social distancing farce at the Suncorp Stadium showdown between the Melbourne Storm and Canberra Raiders.
A failure in Ticketek's system impacted ticket machines nationally with both the NRL and the AFL's preliminary finalat the Adelaide Oval both forced to lock out thousands of fans as a result of a system breakdown.
Angry fans and NRL commentators were fuming at being trapped in a congested crowd of thousands.
But what came next was even more concerning, with fans claiming they were then allowed into the stadium with all social distancing measures abandoned.
There were some claims on social media fans were barely screened by security on their way into the Brisbane venue after the match started with thousands caught trying to enter.
"There's some kind of ticketing crash, thousands of people are still outside," Fox League commentator Andrew Voss said.
"They've delayed this as much as they can but for such a big game they can't be pushing it back too much."
Former Adelaide Crows coach Graham Cornes said the situation was not much better at Adelaide Oval where fans were caught out in heavy rain.
"Hundreds of people have been affected by Ticketek tonight," Cornes told SEN Radio.
"There's people standing outside in the rain at Adelaide Oval right now."
The Courier-Mail's Amy Price reported the situation in Queensland got worse when the gates were opened up and fans were ushered straight inside the venue.
Some fans inside the venue were shocked at the sight of supporters charging into the venue after kick-off clearly violating the social distancing rules that saw the Queensland Government boost capacity for NRL finals held at the venue to 39,000.
Others described the scenes of fans packed outside the venue as a "complete shambles".
When ticketek crashes but then is fixed, social distancing doesn’t matter 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/sCrNLHz6dd
If there is going to be a #COVID19 outbreak it is going to happen at @Suncorp stadium tonight. Zero social distancing, zero direction from staff. Disgrace #NRL@qldhealthnews@NRL
Ticketek later issued an apology. "Ticketek apologises to Storm and Raiders fans that were delayed getting into Suncorp Stadium tonight due to a technical issue," it said. "We also apologise to the NRL and Suncorp Stadium."
