January 29 – Dimitris Papastergiou, Greece’s Minister of Digital Governance, has described the introduction of electronic tickets for football matches in the country as a huge success.
A year ago, the Greek government introduced the digital id system to combat football hooliganism in stadiums, linking tickets to individuals and addresses. According to the Greek minister, the introduction of electronic tickets has achieved its goal.
Via the digital stadium entry system, in both the Super League and in Greece’s basketball league, more than 1.01 million tickets have been recorded, with almost 75% of them in football (more than 752 000) and the rest in basketball (nearly 267 000).
The digital process has completely upgraded the level of security in the stadiums, making them safer and enhancing crowd atmosphere, said Papastergiou (pictured).
Annouced last February by Deputy Minister of Sports, Yiannis Vroutsis, and Papastergiou. It was implemented in April 2024 in football and in September of the same year in basketball.
“More than 1,000,000 tickets for football and basketball matches have been identified through Gov.gr Wallet, our digital wallet. This is clear proof that citizens have fully understood how the digital stadium entry system works. With simple and easy-to-use technological tools, we brought innovation to sports, showing that citizens are ready to adopt new media. Sports fans “embrace” digital solutions as they realised in practice that they upgrade an area of their daily lives that they love very much, sports,” said Papastergiou.
“The result of this acceptance is that since last March, the image of the stadiums is completely different. It has regained its sporting character, disproving those who predicted that the measures would not succeed. This was, after all, the goal set by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis from the beginning, and we moved in this direction in collaboration with the Deputy Minister of Sports, Yiannis Vroutsis: for the stadiums to be places of sports, as well as fields of joy and fair competition.”
Contact the writer of this story, Alexander Krassimirov, at moc.l1738228233labto1738228233ofdlr1738228233owedi1738228233sni@o1738228233fni1738228233