The online ticketing system for the 2024 African Nations Championship (Chan) quarter-final between Kenya and Madagascar collapsed shortly after sales began, leaving many fans stranded.

The tickets, sold through the Mookh platform, went live at noon on Tuesday but the site was quickly overwhelmed and crashed.

Kenya will face Madagascar on Friday at 5 pm at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

Thousands of supporters hoping to secure their seats were unable to complete purchases, with the breakdown blamed on overwhelming demand.

The high interest in Harambee Stars’ matches has been evident throughout the tournament.

All four of Kenya’s group games sold out, with some fans forcing their way into the stadium.

This situation has already cost the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Sh12.8 million in fines from the Confederation of African Football (Caf) for repeated security lapses in five matches played in Nairobi.

The biggest incident occurred on August 10 when chaos erupted during Kenya’s clash with Morocco at Kasarani.

In response, Caf restricted the stadium’s capacity for all Harambee Stars matches and issued a stern warning that further violations could result in harsher penalties, including moving Kenya’s home fixtures to neutral venues.

As a result of the restrictions, only 27,000 fans were allowed to attend Kenya’s last group stage match at Kasarani, despite the stadium’s 48,000-seat capacity.

The majority of supporters were left to follow the action from their homes or fan zones set up across Nairobi.