Ticket and identity controls at the first game

[JackieF]

Hi, here is a report from my brother who has just entered the arena in Munich.

First there was a body search 500 meters from the entrance. They only checked the ticket briefly at this stage. In this area they had beer and entertainment. Not so many people, one hour before the start. Most people were already in the arena.

At second stage, they had the real ticket control. The ticket is held in a electronic reader where the ticket is validated. No further check is being made, no passport or identity check. My brother watched a couple of hundred people pass, and the only persons they checked were two mexican guys. He could not find out exactly why the checked them, but he did see that they had tickets.

In the arena, you can walk around as you want, there are no restrictions. When you go to your seat, there is a third check. This time it is once again a brief check to see if you are in the correct section. No identity check. You can exchange tickets with other people if you like, so you can sit together. I guess that is true as long as you look like you could be the owner of the ticket! :)

However, there are many, many guards walking around, so if they want they do have the resources to check people more.

[gokorea]

did your brother say anything about bags? (size, allowed, etc etc)

[JackieF]

did your brother say anything about bags? (size, allowed, etc etc)

He is not sure what the rules say but he has seen people with small backpacks inside, and the Costa Rica supporters have brought drums and that seems to be OK.

[hollistonrevsfan]

Did anyone see any scalping (touts) of tickets outside the stadium, and how that was going?

[JackieF]

There were no sales of tickets outside the stadium. There were some people with signs that wanted to buy tickets but with no luck.

Other people in the arena reported that there were no passport controls what so ever, so it did not matter if the tickets were in other people names.

Bags and cameras could be stored outside the arena. No videocameras were allowed in the arena.

[jdegouveia]

Any word on how good/bad the OV seats are?

[csong825]

Anyone know how bad the lines were for picking up tickets at the Stadium Ticket Center?

[gameson]

There were no sales of tickets outside the stadium. There were some people with signs that wanted to buy tickets but with no luck.

Other people in the arena reported that there were no passport controls what so ever, so it did not matter if the tickets were in other people names.

Bags and cameras could be stored outside the arena. No videocameras were allowed in the arena.

During the match 1, I saw someone with camcorder front row. just an FYI

[JackieF]

:D

I am sure you did. Nothing is impossible! :)

[gameson]

I was surprised too when I watched it on TV. This guy clearly used his own personal camcorder... lol, anyway, i m glad that everything works out in the end

[El-Professor]

I'm not surprised they are only spot checking passports. They alluded to this in the FAQs. It was never an issue of actually checking ID's, that should be easy enough. The real problem comes when somebody's record comes up, doesn't match their ID, then what do you do with them?
"Please go away sir"
"No, really, its my ticket, your computer is wrong."
"I'm sorry sir, please go away"
"No, I paid for this ticket, been planning for two years, saved all my lunch money by eating cheap baloney"
"I'm sorry sir, according to my machine you are suppose to be Anton Soler, not Bob Jones"
"I'm Bob Jones, your machine is wrong, can I speak to your supervisor?"

And this would be repeated how many times? Think about how slippery USSoccer has been with transfer confirmation.

Nah, no way were they going to go down that road, they'd have a riot on their hands.

[HSV Hooligan]

did your brother say anything about bags? (size, allowed, etc etc)
I was at the game too, and there were two different sets of 2 people, and all 4 of us got in on tickets with different names. As previously stated, NO NAME VERIFICATION that I saw (and I also watched many people go in). Everyone seemed to have backpacks, but I saw nothing larger. They were allowed, but there was a very thorough search of the backpacks.

Again, I saw no one get their ID checked.

The thing was was that they separated the groups depending on the color of the section you are sitting in, but I think that was so that not all 60,000 people went to the closest entry point. After the pat-down and bag search, you go into a "fan area" where they have a band and other entertainment...then you give your ticket at the turnstile and they just verify it is a valid ticket.

Good luck to everyone else getting in with tickets with other people's names...so far, it seems easy/definately possible.

[HSV Hooligan]

Did anyone see any scalping (touts) of tickets outside the stadium, and how that was going?
I saw people "looking for tickets" but it didn't look very successful because everyone going to the opening match had tickets and weren't going to sell. I only saw a couple of people actually looking for an extra ticket, but I think they were touts.

[HSV Hooligan]

Any word on how good/bad the OV seats are?
I had 2 OV seats in section 125, row 19...NO OBSTRUCTIONS WHATSOEVER. Could see the entire pitch with nothing in the way and only about 20 meters from the corner flag.

Oh yeah, and it was a pair of CAT 2 tickets.

[210597]

I had cat 4 OV tickets for a Confed Cup game in Cologne last year. Paid 10 bucks a pop, what was the obstruction? Well I was in a corner, lower deck (sect. S1), and when a corner kick was taken on the other side at my end, a railing partially obstructed my view of the kick taker's body. Surely a horrible loss when compared to the fact that I paid all of 10 euros to watch Brazil play Japan with three of my best friends:D It all depends on what you get, but OV tickets aren't necessarily bad.

[simao20]

Nothing much to add but I was also at the Germany Game last night. They did not check any IDs at the gate. Good thing I didnt waste 10E trying to transfer names.

[AmericanRovers]

I had 2 OV seats in section 125, row 19...NO OBSTRUCTIONS WHATSOEVER. Could see the entire pitch with nothing in the way and only about 20 meters from the corner flag.

Oh yeah, and it was a pair of CAT 2 tickets.
I had CAT 3 OV for Poland Equador. The only obstruction was a pole in front of me, I'm not talking about a guy in a red jersey, just a railing at the front of the section.

I'll agree about the ticket confirmation. I'd have never done the application to change my wife with my Aunt (mastercard) had I known.

[Kalifornia]

These were the first two games, there is no way they'd wanted a big PR flop because of lines checking tickets and the likes.
I suspect things will get tougher as we go, when the press will be off their back and they get the experience.

Nobody mentionned anything about a computer video screen being linked to the ticket readers? Was there one? To me that is a critical piece of equipment which if it is missing prove they will not check ID's with tickets at the gate, because they won't have the technology to do it.

I mean, how do they know that the name and passport number attached to the ticket is yours if they don't have it in front of them downloaded from the database?

Any input on parking? Public transportation? How long in advance is the stadium open? Which part of the stadium is in the sun (makes a huge difference in how you will enjoy the game)? Do they take credit cards inside the stadium? Visa & AmEx? Beer prices? ;)

[210597]

Mastercard only, and beer is 4 Euros for 0.4 liters (!) apparently in Munich.

Also, they are very bitchy about only letting you into a stadium gate corresponding to the color zone your ticket is in.

Parking is 4 Euros and only for ticket-holders on the designated parking lots near the stadium, at least in Gelsenkirchen.

[JackieF]

Here comes a report from my brother who is in Dortmund(?) right now to watch Sweden vs Trinidad/Tobago. Same report as in Munich, no identity checks what so ever.

However, the machines who checks the tickets have problems with many tickets so many people are still queueing outside and will not get into the arena in time. Be careful with your tickets since they seem to be easy to mess up.

Many people outside wanting to buy tickets, no one is selling though.