Gardaí to target touts outside Croker

UNDERCOVER gardaí will target ticket touts outside Croke Park ahead of tomorrow’s All-Ireland football final between Dublin and Mayo.

The Garda effort to clamp down on illegal vendors is part of a large-scale policing plan put in place for the sell-out event.

Ticket touts who have a history of operating illegally could also face huge fines or six months’ imprisonment.

Plain-clothes officers, who will be on patrol as part of the overall policing plan, will be briefed on touts known to be operating outside the stadium on match days.

The Casual Trading Act 1995 makes it illegal for an individual to sell tickets in a public place without a licence and gives gardaí powers to arrest touts and seize any merchandise, including tickets.

Depending on previous offences for illegally selling tickets, touts can be fined anything between €50 and €10,000, while conviction on indictment can carry a prison sentence of up to six months.

“As part of the policing plan for every event policed by An Garda Síochána, members are briefed on illegal ticket selling,” a Garda spokesman told the

Irish Independent.

In 2015, a Polish FA official was prosecuted under the legislation after being arrested in possession of 12 tickets before the Ireland v Poland international outside the Aviva Stadium.