Fans frustrated as overload disrupts ASEAN Cup final ticket sales on official website and app

At 8 a.m. on Monday, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) launched online ticket sales for the first leg of the 2024 ASEAN Cup final through the OneU platform. Within minutes, the website and app crashed, remaining inaccessible for over an hour, according to news outlet Znews. The issue has yet to be resolved.

Late on Sunday, VFF announced that tickets for the final match at Viet Tri Stadium would go on sale at 8 a.m. on Monday via the OneU app. However, when the sales began, users were unable to access either the website or the app. A "Bad Gateway. Error code 502" message appeared on the platform, typically indicating server overload.

On Sunday evening, Vietnam defeated Singapore 3-1 in the second leg of the semifinals at Viet Tri Stadium, securing a 5-1 aggregate victory and the first spot in the ASEAN Cup final.

Striker Nguyen Xuan Son during his penalty kick for Vietnam in the ASEAN Cup semifinal's second leg against Singapore at Viet Tri Stadium, Dec. 29, 2024. Photo by VnExpress

Vietnam will face the winner of the Thailand–Philippines matchup, which will be determined after the second leg on Monday evening.

While Cloudflare, a content delivery network used by OneU, reported no disruptions, the issue appeared to originate from OneU’s own servers.

Frustrated fans expressed their dissatisfaction on VFF’s and OneU’s official Facebook pages. By 9 a.m., OneU confirmed that its system had been overwhelmed by high traffic during the ticket sale.

"Our technical team is working urgently to restore the ticket portal as quickly as possible. We are committed to ensuring a smooth, fair, and convenient process for all fans," OneU stated on its official Facebook page. The company added that ticket sales would be postponed but did not provide a new timeline.

According to SimilarWeb data, OneU’s platform typically receives fewer than 3,000 visits per month, indicating it may not have been prepared for the surge of users attempting to buy tickets for the ASEAN Cup final at Viet Tri Stadium.

VFF announced that the match, scheduled for the evening of Jan. 2, 2025, would feature four ticket categories priced between VND500,000 (US$20) and VND1 million. While the total number of tickets was not disclosed, Viet Tri Stadium has a seating capacity of approximately 20,000. Unlike previous matches where tickets were sold directly at the venue, VFF opted for online sales exclusively via the OneU platform.

The sales period was limited to 8 a.m. to midnight on Dec. 30, with each account linked to a national ID allowed to purchase a maximum of two tickets.

The national team’s recent victories in the ASEAN Cup have fueled public interest, significantly increasing ticket demand. In previous matches, fans queued in long lines and jostled to buy tickets at Viet Tri Stadium. On the black market, ticket prices have reportedly surged to two or three times their original value.