Security on high alert as over 7 000 fake tickets flagged during Soweto derby

Security will be on high alert in the Carling Cup at the FNB Stadium at the weekend as Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA) looks to stamp out fake tickets. 

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This is after more than 7 500 tickets were flagged during the Soweto derby two weeks ago, according to SMSA chief executive Bertie Grobler. 

Thousands of fans are again expected at FNB Stadium for the Carling Cup on Saturday and Grobler says they will continue their fight against fake tickets.

“We are going to implement the same system that we did with the derby because that obviously worked,” said Grobler on Tuesday. 

“If your ticket does not scan at the scanning points, you are then referred to a verification point where they check. 

“It could be that your ticket has already been scanned and it is already inside, or that it is a fake ticket. There are instances where there was something wrong with the barcode. 

“But we pick up at the verification point, and if that happens you get issued a new ticket,” he added. 

Grobler said while they are still verifying, just around 7 500 tickets were flagged and most of those were found to be fake.

“We are now busy reconciling, and it would be wrong for me to say there were 7 500 fake tickets… But there were 7 500 failures and of that definitely a large portion were fake tickets. 

“The other thing that we are now closing in on with assistance from the police and crime intelligence is the selling of fake tickets at the venue. 

“There are a lot of people coming out and we are exposing those people. I am confident that we are making huge inroads on that. 

“The issue we have had is that of the printing paper that fell into the hands of illegal ticket printers. What we saw in the derby is that it is diminishing. 

“They have probably run out of paper and are now using fake paper which is easier to pick up than the original thermal paper,” explained Grobler.  

He warned supporters not to come to the stadium and try to buy tickets around the venue because those are probably fake.