In a bid to curb the rise of fake tickets, Stadium Management SA (SMSA) has revealed that Open Tickets will replace Ticketro from March 1.
This was confirmed by Stadium Management CEO Bertie Grobbelaar at a media briefing at FNB Stadium on Tuesday.
The changes follow the Soweto derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs in January, where the clash attracted more people than normal.
With the capacity set at 87,000 for the game, more than 100,000 fans were inside the stadium, while people with legitimate tickets were denied entry after many entered the venue with fake tickets.
Grobbelaar said it was time they overhauled the logistics around the fixture. This is only for two venues — FNB and Orlando stadiums — which are managed by SMSA.
“We have identified as Stadium Management and with the clubs over the last season and a half and all of us have seen an increase in the number of fraudulent tickets and access control we have at the venues,” Grobbelaar said.
“Specifically with the sold-out capacity fixtures. Now with the two clubs that use our venues as their home base, we were exploring options over the last season and a half to enhance the accessibility of tickets to make it easier to purchase tickets and get into the venue and to minimise the fake tickets.
“The plan was always to implement the new ticketing system at the start of the next season, but unfortunately, with the derby in February, we need to accelerate that process.
“In our debriefing session with the Venue Operating Centre and the SSPC committee, PSL and other stakeholders, we identified two issues. Fraudulent tickets, scanning issues at entry points and human error by scanning staff and security staff. Sometimes it’s the people working together, taking bribes to let people in.”
The new ticket service provider will have tickets with security features instead of mere till slips and improvements at access points.
“We are confident that with the measures that we are going to apply at the access points, we will be able to manage that process far more effectively than we did to date with the slip tickets,” he said.
“The process to purchase will be made available.”
Grobbelaar added that fans who already have season tickets will not be affected by the changes.
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