Czech football fans already have Tuesday, June 18 highlighted in bold. Coach Ivan Hašek’s team will face one of the favorites of the championship, Portugal, in nearby Leipzig. Those who were lucky in the ticket lottery have a ticket through official channels and will be there. Those who didn’t get it, either gave up trying or are trying other options.
In the case of the last variant, however, it is a big risk. “In the long term, and not only in the case of Euro 2024, we warn fans against purchasing tickets through other than official channels. Similar cases to which you point out unfortunately happen at every major sporting or cultural event. The sale of the European championship takes place exclusively through UEFA, and FAČR is not a ticket seller, so it does not even have the options to fight this problem,” says FAČR spokesman Petr Šedivý.
Troubles with traffickers were dealt with by representatives of Sparta or Slavia in recent big European League matches with Galatasaray, Liverpool or AC Milan. What can an excited fan who buys a ticket in an unofficial way meet? If the ticket is not valid, logically the person concerned will not get into the stadium. Fraudsters can also resell genuine tickets, but several times. At that moment, only the first lucky person passes through the turnstile, the others are unlucky.
“In the vast majority of cases, it is a crime of fraud, for which there is a penalty of up to two years in prison,” warns police spokeswoman Eva Kropáčová.
Tickets (or access codes, as some tickets will not be received until the end of May) for the Czech national team match can be found, for example, on Bazoš or the Viagogo portal. Price? Often 10 to 15 thousand crowns. At the same time, the most expensive tickets in the official sale cost 200 euros, i.e. just over 5 thousand crowns. “In the case of selling a valid ticket for several times the price, the person concerned is committing fraud and faces a fine of up to 10,000 crowns,” Kropáčová points out.
“The company Viagogo is known for the fact that its resold and usually significantly more expensive tickets often either do not arrive at all, or they arrive, but their codes at the turnstiles at the entrances to sports events or concerts of music stars may not always work,” the director of the European Consumer Protection center of the Czech Republic Ondřej Tichota.
It is not only a match with Portugal, which is, however, the most attractive in terms of the reputation of the opponent and the driving distance. The Czechs will then face Georgia (June 22) and Turkey (June 26) in the basic group F, both duels will take place in Hamburg.
Professional fraudsters also try to take advantage of the high interest, who let people pay by bank transfer, but never deliver the tickets. “It is therefore good to keep in mind that tickets will usually only be available through official channels of the organizers and that third-party offers will be very risky, fraudulent or significantly overpriced,” appeals Tichota.
In addition, the fraudster gets into trouble with UEFA. “In such a case, EURO 2024 GmbH is entitled, in addition to other measures and sanctions according to the contractual terms and without prejudice to any other claims, to impose on the applicant or the ticket holder, as the case may be, a reasonable contractual penalty of up to 2,500 euros,” the official document reads on the association’s website. In conversion, around 80 thousand crowns.
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