Jakarta. The Asian Games organizing committee has confirmed that Kiostix, its online ticketing partner, no longer manages its core online service after encountering difficulties with the distribution of tickets for the multisport event.

People have reportedly been struggling to purchase tickets from the company's website ahead of the opening ceremony on Saturday evening (18/08).

On Kiostix's 2018 Asian Games landing page, which has reportedly been offline for several days already, visitors are greeted with a message instructing them to purchase tickets from other outlets instead.

"We've received public criticism about Kiostix, whose website is often down, and also about other operational issues," Sarman Simanjorang, ticketing director at the Indonesia Asian Games Organizing Committee (Inasgoc), said on Thursday, as quoted by detikSport.

"So, from now on, Kiostix will only sell tickets offline, while the online ticketing system will be taken over by Blibli.com," he added.

Inasgoc said in a statement on Thursday that people can also buy their tickets from booths at the various Asian Games venues, as well as at Alfamart outlets.

All tickets for the opening ceremony are reportedly sold out, while some fans have complained about difficulties in obtaining tickets for Indonesian men's football team matches.

"I've been struggling to purchase tickets from online channels. Kiostix has been down and Blibli said all tickets for Indonesian men's football have been sold out," Wildan Hariz, 28, told the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

"For a high-caliber event such as the Asian Games, it's a pity that we have to struggle to get tickets. Kiostix is down, I got nothing at Alfamart and the [ticketing] booth at the mall also didn't help, because its system is still linked to Kiostix's server!" one netizen tweeted on Thursday.

Sekelas ASIAN GAMES, mau nonton pertandingannya aja beli tiketnya susah :(((

Website kiostix down, ke alfamart nggak bisa, ke booth yg di Mall juga nggak bisa karena ternyata semua servernya ke Kiostix. Duh!

— silvia faradila (@ipimaripi) August 16, 2018

At least one foreign visitor also complained about the ticketing system at Kiostix's office in Pejaten, South Jakarta, where he encountered long queues and insufficient instructions in English, Kompas.com reported on Friday.

"The Asian Games is an international event; there are supposed to be more English instructions available for us," said John Chiu, a visitor from Hong Kong.

"Even on the website, English instructions were only 50 percent, I guess," he added.

Inasgoc's Sarman said last week that they aim to sell more than 1.3 million tickets to beat South Korea's record for the 2014 Asian Games.

"We are committed to providing the best service possible and solving any problems that may arise to the best of our ability," Inasgoc chairman Erick Thohir said on Friday, in response to the current situation.