A day after India football coach Igor Stimac asked the fans to come in droves to support the national team, it was announced due to lukewarm response tickets for the Asian Cup group D qualifiers will be complimentary.

India play the final round qualifiers at the Salt Lake Stadium from June 8 to 14.

India will be playing for the first time in two and half years but it has failed to generate any interest in the city and the local organising committee does not expect a crowd of more than 5,000 in the 70,000-capacity Salt Lake Stadium.

“There are no restrictions on spectators and the state government has allowed full capacity. But with the lower-ranked opponents in Hong Kong (147), Afghanistan (150) and Cambodia (171), we don’t expect the crowd to go beyond the 5,000 mark,” an organising committee official said.

“Also the late kick-off time — 8.30PM for all India’s three matches — has proved to be a dampener,” he added.

There is also a catch — by handing out complimentary tickets, hosts AIFF will not have to pay out hefty hosting fee of Rs 16 lakh per day to the state government.

Fans will be able to book online tickets on BookMyShow portal, and need to collect their physical tickets from two centres — Box Office 2 at the stadium and IFA office in central Calcutta. “Physical tickets will be handed over upon producing the confirmed booking ID. All tickets will be complimentary.”