Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA) has warned soccer lovers not to use counterfeit tickets to gain entry to the Soweto derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates at the weekend.
The derby is one of the biggest sporting events on South African football calendar, as two of the greatest clubs in the southern Africa region take to the field to battle it out for bragging rights.
The big clash takes place at the FNB Stadium near Soweto on Saturday. Kick-off is scheduled for 3.30pm.
SMSA CEO Bertie Grobbelaar has called on football lovers to ensure that their tickets are verifiable, noting that there will be a ticket-system change and installation of additional cameras around the gigantic sporting venue.
“We are definitely going to have fake tickets,” Grobbelaar said at a media briefing held at Vodacom headquarters in Midrand, Johannesburg this week.
“But the most important thing is how we are going to deal with it. We have installed 24 additional cameras around the stadium precinct, to the search point and the access gates. They are inclusive of four LPR [license plate recognition] cameras and the venue operating centre will have about 20 additional TV screens.”
Grobbelaar explained how the new ticket system will work, stating that all the supporters with fake tickets will be removed from the venue.
“When you arrive at the venue with the current scanning system, it will be clearly indicated if you have got a fake ticket or a ticket that is suspect in some other way. You will then be referred to a verification point, and if it is not clarified and cleared as a legitimate ticket, you will be removed from the precinct.
“I have also indicated the camera systems we will be deploying as part of the approach to be more technology driven in approaching this whole process. It is going to be a challenge as always, but I am confident that the plans will bear fruit,” Grobbelaar said.
By Wednesday morning, more than 38 000 tickets had already been sold, with about 84 700 fans expected to set foot at the stadium for the much-anticipated fixture.
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