Hundreds of Liverpool fans hit by "ticketless tout" scam

Apr 3 2008

LIVERPOOL fans missed the start of the Champions League clash against Arsenal after being caught up in a forged ticket scam.

Chaos erupted outside the Emirates Stadium after genuine ticket- holders were left outside while people with fakes got in.

About 200 Reds missed the first 20 minutes of the game amid scenes reminiscent of last May’s final in Athens.

The turnstiles were closed twice around kick-off leading to crushing and scuffles breaking out.

Fans said police told them they were barring further access to the game as too many people had got into the stadium with forged tickets.

Jim Byrne, from Waterloo, said: “It’s a minority of people with forged tickets who are spoiling it for everyone else and I can’t believe it’s happened again. When will people learn that it’s everyone else who suffers when they do something stupid like forge tickets?”

According to eyewitnesses, the build-up outside the ground began 30 minutes before kick-off, with around 500 fans waiting to get in.

Announcements were made that the turnstiles were being closed for safety reasons because a large volume of fans was trying to get into the ground for the start of the game.

All genuine ticket-holders, however, were in the ground by about 20 minutes after kick-off.

However, by then the two goals had already been scored.

The problems appear to be related to a “ticketless tout” scam uncovered by the Evening Standard newspaperthis week.

A undercover reporter exposed the bogus scheme when trying to buy match tickets from unofficial sources.

Fans hoping to see the game are being asked to pay hundreds of pounds for a one or two- night “loan” of membership cards.

But touts and “rogue fans” are taking out memberships and applying for as many matches as possible.

They then loan out the cards to supporters looking for tickets who simply swipe them through the turnstile when they turn up for the games.

The infomation has been passed to Arsenal FC.