Red army invades ancient Greece

May 23 2007 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo

Today we bought two forged tickets for 50 euros after bartering the seller down from 80. They were almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

One fan said: "I've seen loads of forgeries floating around. They're being sold for 100 euros each.

"There was a lad who came into our bar last night who had a handful of them and sold them in a matter of minutes.

"You just know this is going to lead to problems, specially as most people think it's going to be a doddle getting into the ground even if you haven't got a ticket."

All tickets will be scanned as fans enter the stadium but on the streets of Athens there are genuine fears that the combination of thousands of ticketless fans, thousands of tickets and a stadium without turnstiles could cause problems.

Chief Superintendent Dave Lewis of Merseyside police said in Athens: "It would be foolish to say that nobody with a forged ticket will get into the ground because we have some of the world's masters at defeating the authorities.

"I believe we are talking about thousands of forged tickets rather than hundreds, most of which will have originated in the UK.

"But the Greek authorities have assured me they have systems to deal with the situation and I have every confidence they will do so."

The Olympic Stadium has issued security staff with ultra violet scanners to reveal if tickets are genuine or fake.

Anyone caught with a forgery will be arrested.

But the fact that there are so many ticketless fans in Athens, possibly 15,000 from Liverpool alone, means that the black market is thriving in the run-up to tonight's clash.

Gareth Roberts from Huyton said tickets were changing hands for anything up to £2,500 as touts cash in on the desperation of Liverpool supporters to see the game.

He said: "The problem is lads will pay it because they want to see the game."

Chief Supt Lewis believes when the game kicks off tonight, as many as 25,000 Liverpool fans will have managed to get their hands on tickets, some of which will be in the AC Milan end.

He said: "The two sets of fans have already shown they do get along.

"There were Liverpool fans in the Milan end at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul two years ago and there were no problems then so I don't see why there should be any problems this time."

To give ticketless fans an alternative a massive screen is to be erected in downtown Athens to show the match, in an area which can host up to 6,000 fans.

Organiser Richard McCabe, who supervised a similar event when Celtic played Porto in the 2003 Uefa Cup final in Seville, said the screening was a genuine way for ticketless fans to enjoy the game without heading off to the stadium.

He said: "Obviously, there is nothing better than going to the match but we would urge anyone who hasn't got a ticket to come down here."