Ghana turns to automated ticketing system to beat cheats

Published on: 21 June 2012

By Ameenu Shardow

A superior automated ticketing system has been introduced to maximize stadium revenue in Ghana.

The initiative which has already been tested successfully will be the main feature of the Ghana Premier League next season.

The new system which will revolutionalize the local game will also ease pressure at the gates on matchdays while also relieving the burden on spectators who literally fight their way through just to enjoy a football match.

And the fact that this automated system is being conducted by a fully owned Ghanaian firm; Renaissance Events Solutions makes it even better.

They have been mandated by the Ghana FA to fully run this system for all the games in next season’s Glo Premier League as well as national team assignments.

What this is about

The game locally has evolved but not with respect to spectatoring other done improved seats at the stadium. The traditional way is to see long queues consisting men, women and children mounting at the gates (especially when it is a big game like a Black Stars match) virtually fighting for the relief of getting in.

No advanced tickets can be sold for fear of illegal duplication giving rise to the heightened pressure at the turnstiles. Even with this, the ever technology inclined criminals always find their way through the sale of fake tickets.

As a result, so many leakages emerge in the system which prevents the maximization monies generated from gate proceeds to reflect attendance for a true declaration to be made.

This makes it extremely difficult for taxes and other logistical deductions to be made, which nevertheless is done ending up leaving the ultimate beneficiaries with a paltry amount – leaving them green faced and red eyed in the process.

In the face of all these challenges, there was the need to introduce an automated ticketing system which does not only render reliefs to the spectators, but also ensures that proceeds at the gates are well accounted for to the full advantage of the ultimate beneficiaries.

This means, there will be no more long queues and fans will have much more time to plan their weekend with the advanced ticket sales (which satisfies a Fifa directive), the several leakages blokcked while transparency and accountability is significantly enhanced which will inadvertently improve profits significantly.

“The clubs themselves came to us to literally demand for the full actualization of this system during the piloting,” General Manager of Renaissance Events Solutions Samuel Owusu told GHANAsoccernet.com.

“Their(clubs) proceeds shot up significantly and what thrilled them most was the immediate production of a report which gives a thorough breakdown of the tickets sold, monies realized, the rejected ones (tickets) and declaration of total monies realized.

“This obviously blocks the illegal leakages in the system and offers a solid foundation for proper and transparent accounting procedures.

“We used it for the recent Black Stars game against Lesotho in Kumasi and officials were amazed at the system’s efficiency and the total money generated.

“The report is instantly made available after games to all stakeholders including the media to promote transparency and accountability.”

Features

The ticket comes in a mini card form with various security features including unique embedded codes which cannot be duplicated.

These codes help authenticate the genuine tickets at the gates after being taken through a computerized system.

“Some people who were trying to play a fast one by duplicating the advanced ticket sold during the piloting were detected during the authenticating process at the gates and were apprehended so there is no way the system can be cheated due to the unique embedded codes in the tickets,” Owusu adds.

Football fans especially club supporters who consistently throng match venues to enjoy their team play will have to get used to the new regime in ticketing while being rest assured that their contribution towards improving their beloved clubs through the gates as appropriately captured by the new automated system.

Apart from satisfying a Fifa directive of advanced ticket sales, the new regime is simply intandem with modern practices all over the world and therefore is about time Ghana embraced the new technology.

For further information, contact Renaissance Events Solutions on:

Tel: 0244672336/ 0243865689

e-mail: [email protected]

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