DOHA, Qatar—Chaotic scenes broke out inside and outside the fan festival at Al Bidda Park in Doha on Nov. 20 an hour before the opening FIFA World Cup match between host Qatar and Ecuador, after organizers allowed too many fans to flood the precinct.
The venue has a capacity of 40,000 people but at least twice that number of people tried to make their way in and, for a long time, many were let into a holding area between the main festival park and the perimeter entrance.
