Criminal gangs prey on ticketless fans
Police seize fake tickets near Madrid stadium Unprecedented security for ‘high-risk’ event
A criminal gang in Madrid was caught attempting to sell fraudulent Champions League tickets to Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur fans yesterday, raising fears that a record number of fakes could be in circulation.
Up to 40,000 supporters who missed out on the clubs’ allocation of 32,000 tickets will descend on the Spanish capital over the next 24 hours, many still desperate to secure a place inside the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Police swooped on three Italian touts near the stadium ticket office just hours after security officials had warned at least one fan group about the potential fraud. The trio were carrying authentic seating plans, but had 21 false tickets on them, Spanish authorities said, together with €3,180 (£2,803) in cash and five envelopes with the official Uefa letterhead.
Fake-ticket scams are a regular headache for the governing body at this stage and it has warned supporters that every ticket has a unique code, so fans with fakes will not gain entry.
Madrid officials have already promised a huge security operation, with officers using drones to keep an eye on troublemakers during a heavy day of drinking in the Madrid heat. The Spanish sports daily Marca summed up local angst this week with the front-page headline “Fear”.
Thousands of supporters descended on the fan zones yesterday to be greeted with a lukewarm reception by some of the bars, who were critical of arrangements. The manager of the Calvin bar, which borders the Liverpool fan zone, told The Daily Telegraph he was sacrificing a huge pay day for his restaurant by closing his doors out of protest.
Arturo Fernandez said: “I’m closing completely on Friday and Saturday. I’m unhappy about being told to move my terrace bar, the square looks like Auschwitz, and here we don’t like football and the culture that goes with it. I don’t like the way the fans behave, the songs they sing, the flares – and I don’t mean just English fans. Spanish football fans can be just as stupid.”
The nearby Le Petit Prince French restaurant said it was planning to close its indoor seated area and simply serve drinks from the bar through a hatch window, refusing to let fans use the lavatories.
Some 4,700 police, aided by drones to help spot potential trouble in the side streets, will keep watch over what the authorities deemed a “high-risk” event. They will be reinforced by helicopters, “civil protection” and the fire brigade in what is being billed as the largest security operation for any sporting event in the city’s history.
“This will probably be the biggest deployment to guarantee security which we will carry out at a sporting event,” said the director general of Spain’s National Police, Francisco Pardo, in Madrid.
The level of anti-terrorism alert in Spain is at four on a scale that goes to five. Trucks are banned from the areas surrounding fan zones to counter a potential Nicestyle lorry rampage.
Uefa has previously been in contact with security chiefs at both Spurs and Liverpool, while officers from Scotland Yard and Merseyside Police are sharing intelligence with Spanish counterparts as part of a “ring of steel” plan for tomorrow. Armed police squads and facialrecognition technology will also be on hand to keep potential troublemakers at bay.
There have been no cases of bad behaviour by Spurs fans in Europe this season, but six Liverpool fans were detained in Barcelona ahead of their semi-final first leg. Some supporters accused the Spanish authorities of employing heavyhanded tactics. Ticket-holders will have to pass through several rings of security before reaching their seats for the final.
Co-ordination between security forces and transport police is meant to ensure that groups of fans will be tracked at the city’s main entry points.