By Mark Baber
February 23 – The Football Supporters’ Federation has called on clubs to create their own secondary ticket exchanges after a BBC Radio 5 live investigation found football ticket-touting laws are being flouted, apparently leaving fans vulnerable to online brokers.
Kevin Miles, chief executive of the FSF, said: “Any company that gets between fans and a club will try to make a profit.”
“We understand fans might want to sell on tickets because they can’t make it to a game, but our preference would be that clubs manage that,” he added.
The investigation found that tickets were being sold on foreign web sites and failing to adhere to UK law, which requires tickets advertised to include the cost and location in the stadium. The investigation also found tickets arrived too late and some Premier League tickets being sold at more than five times their face value.
Sone clubs have already set up their own ticket exchanges, including Spurs, Everton, Southampton and Arsenal who cite the benefits as including:
• Transfer your ticket directly to a family member or friend of your choice and save yourself the trouble of having to hand over your membership card
• Always feel comfortable in knowing who is sitting in your seat on a Matchday
• Always make sure your seat is filled so the crowd stay loud and proud
• Assist us in our objectives of eradicating the unauthorised and illegal sale of tickets through touts.
Arsenal are also extending their scheme, which had previously credited proceeds of sales to the purchase of a future season ticket, to allowing season ticket holders to have the proceeds of a sale deposited to their bank account.
So far this season 44,000 tickets have been redistributed through Arsenal’s exchange. The general resale of tickets was banned in 1994 over fears of undermining supporter segregation, but in practice of course many thousands of tickets are exchanged between mates in pubs every week.
The main concern is over supporters getting ripped off and Miles emphasised, “It’s important fans understand there are different types of secondary ticket companies. Some have no affiliation with football clubs, and are often based offshore so are not subject to UK law.
“If anyone is planning to buy tickets, do your research because with these companies there is a danger that your tickets don’t turn up.
“There is a place in the market for the fair reselling of tickets and we would like clubs to use their own in-house systems.”
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