DALLAS, Texas - Hundreds of fans who bought Super Bowl tickets and wound up missing the game or settling for obstructed views from folding chairs are taking their complaints to federal court.

A lawsuit filed late Tuesday in Dallas accuses the National Football League, the Dallas Cowboys and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones of deceptive sales practices, breach of contract in fraud over last Sunday's NFL championship spectacle.

The Green Bay Packers defeated Pittsburgh 31-25 at Cowboys Stadium before more than 100,000 spectators and a record television audience, but about 400 people were forced out of seats over safety issues with temporary bleachers.

Temporary seating was not completed in time for the game but the NFL did not let the public know there was even a possibility of a seating snafu.

About 850 spectators were moved from seats in the closed-off sections to other areas in the stadium, but could only see the action on the field by looking at the stadium's giant telescreen or other monitors.

Cowboys season-ticket holders were among those forced into folding chairs and given inadequate compensation for their purchase, sparking the deceptive sales practice charges.

Those turned away were offered triple the printed value of their tickets as compensation as well as free tickets to next year's Super Bowl in Indianapolis by the NFL, which took the blame for fumbling the seating plan for the largest crowd in Super Bowl history.

"It was obviously a failure on our behalf and we have to take responsibility for that," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. "We had, obviously, a lot of challenges this week. There were a lot of things we were trying to deal with.

"But there are no excuses. When you put on an event like this, you know you're going to have those sorts of challenges."

Goodell said the fault for the mess did not lie with Jones or the organizers.

"We put on this event," Goodell said. "This is the responsibility of the NFL."

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 02/11/2011 page22)