In a bid to fill up the empty stands at different centres, the organisers of the Twenty20 Champions League are reportedly distributing complimentary passes to fetch spectators.

A top official of the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) told IANS that the governing council of the Champions League is sending free passes to all the local associ -ations to distribute among fans and budding cricketers.

"Local fans are not interested in paying for a match between two non-Indian sides. Since only three of the 12 teams are from India, most of the matches would involve overseas teams. The organisers have no option but to distribute passes," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The view found suppon from a cricket fan.

"We have never heard of teams like Otago Volts ’ and Wayamba and even most of the players in these teams are not known to us," said one of the regulars at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium.

"We come here to watch Indian players and don’t mind buying tickets for that," said another cricket enthusiast.

The official said the turnstile machines installed at different entry points at the Kotla to keep a record of the number of spectators are still nonfunctional.

"This has been done intentionally so that there is no official record of the turnout,” the official alleged.

Friday's first match between Australia’s New South Wales Blues and South Africa's Diamond Eagles saw just 5000 fans in the 42,000-seater stadium even though there were tickets available at an affordable rate of Rs. 100.