Tickets for Edin Dzeko's final match for Bosnia and Herzegovina sold out in just 14 minutes. The legendary striker's farewell against Sweden on October 2nd at the Bilino Polje stadium in Zenica has triggered unprecedented demand from fans.
The Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina received close to half a million ticket requests for a stadium that holds around 11,000 seats. Official prices ranged from 40 KM for the north and south stands to 60 KM for the west stand. However, as soon as the tickets sold out, offers appeared on classified sites and Facebook groups at massively inflated prices.
On the secondary market, prices jumped to between 150 and 200 KM for the north and south stands, over 200 KM for the east stand, and from 200 to 500 KM for the west stand. The highest recorded offer was for 500 euros, roughly 978 KM. For a ticket officially priced at 60 KM, that represents nearly sixteen times the face value.
The Federation stressed that tickets will only be valid if they bear the holder's first and last name, with ID checks at the gates. This move aims to curb the activity of scalpers who listed large numbers of seats for sale immediately after the sell-out.
Dzeko, who turns 40 in October, made his senior national team debut in 2007. Since then, he has played 151 matches and scored 73 goals, becoming the country's all-time top scorer. His farewell comes as the team endures a difficult spell, having lost their last three matches. The most recent result was a 2-0 defeat to the USA in July, with the overall form in the last five games showing no wins (LLLDD).
The match against Sweden is also a third-round Nations League fixture. For Dzeko, whose goals led Bosnia and Herzegovina to the 2014 World Cup, this will be an emotional end to an era. Fans wanting to see the full squad can visit the squad page. This enormous ticket demand shows just how much the striker has meant to generations of football supporters in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His final appearance will mark the conclusion of one of the brightest careers in the nation's football history.
The report in full is at srpske.rs
