Uzbek fans held at the UAE Airport for over six hours

Over 100 Uzbek citizens traveling to the United Arab Emirates to attend the World Cup qualifier match between Uzbekistan and the UAE were held for hours at Sharjah International Airport. The group had flown from Tashkent to Sharjah, and their detention was reported by journalist Shohruh Haydarov, who was among the fans.

According to Haydarov, women and elderly passengers were allowed to pass through immigration first. However, the remaining men and younger individuals were asked to complete a questionnaire, as it was their first time visiting the UAE. They were also required to present proof of hotel bookings and copies of their return tickets.

Once all the documents were collected, airport officials made copies and took the original documents away, but did not return them. The fans were left waiting without further explanation for over six hours.

It is worth noting that the Tashkent City Tourism Department had earlier advised local tourism companies to refrain from organizing travel packages to the UAE during this period. The reason cited was limited stadium capacity. Al Nahyan Stadium, the venue for the UAE-Uzbekistan match, accommodates only 12,000 spectators. Under Asian Football Confederation regulations, the host country must allocate 8% of seating (approximately 960 seats) to visiting fans. Despite this, it was reported that nearly 5,000 Uzbek fans were traveling to the UAE to attend the match.