Organizers of the Asian Cup acknowledged Sunday that as many as 3,000 fans were denied entry to the final match but insisted that many did not have tickets and those that did should have come earlier.
Scenes of angry spectators holding their tickets outside the stadium during the final between Australia and Japan marred what otherwise had been a successfully organized tournament for Qatar, in its first big rehearsal for the 2022 World Cup.
Jassim al-Rumaihi, operations director at the tournament, said the gates were closed five minutes after the match started and never opened again. The tight security was in place because members of the emirate's royal family were attending the match, he said. Japan won 1-0 after extra time.
''We feel sorry for people without a ticket. I hope it will not give a bad impression of tournament in general,'' Al-Rumaihi said. ''We were hoping we wouldn't have something like this happen but it happened and we will try to solve it. You can't satisfy everyone.''
Al-Rumaihi said the decision to the close the gates was made by the security detail for the royal family and was not something organizers could control. But he did criticize many of the fans for showing up at the last minute - despite what he said were repeated warnings in the media to arrive to the final early. He also denied reports that organizers let in fans early without tickets to fill the stadium.
''Some of the people came late and had tickets. Our friend who is doctor at a university came to the gate and said 'Is it possible to get in?' We told him no you came late. He left,'' Al-Rumaihi said. ''Time is very important guys. If you are traveling, you have go to the airport two hours early.''
Witnesses - many posting videos and photos of the angry crowd on Twitter and Facebook - described a chaotic scene in which thousands of fans massed behind a fence that encircled the 40,000-seat Khalif Stadium. Some fans who had come from as far away as Australia complained that baton-wielding police roughly pushed the crowd and ordered them to leave because the stadium was sold out, although there were empty seats inside.
Fights reportedly broke out as fans tried to push their way through the gates.
''We came from another country to watch our team but no one is talking to us,'' said Hedo Nawashimi, a 42-year-old Japanese national who had flown over from Dubai and had tickets. ''This is very bad. It is not right to keep us outside. Is that the way to organize Asian Cup? Is that a way to organize a final match?''
When a reporter approached, the crowd of European, South Asian and Gulf Arab fans all held up their tickets, including one woman who had eight. They talked of crowds that reached 5,000 all barred from entering and then spending the next several hours going from gate to gate in an unsuccessful bid to gain entry.
''My father's inside and I can't get to him,'' said A.J. Smith, a 15-year English fan living in Doha. ''There are empty seats everywhere. You can just look at the television for proof. It's not fair.''
Sameh Abu Assi, a 33-year-old Saudi national standing nearby, said he had driven 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) from Saudi Arabia to attend the match and spent more than $2,000 on hotels and tickets.
''We should be allowed to enter,'' Abu Assi said. ''How do they expect to organize the 2022 World Cup? They can't even organize this.''
After the match, fans also complained they were prevented for an about an hour from leaving the stadium until after a closing ceremony featuring a fireworks show.
Al-Rumaihi said organizers would consider issuing refunds to ticket holders who couldn't get into the match after talking with the Asian Football Confederation.
