Ticket touting: Club statement & update

Ticket touting: Club statement & update

Update for supporters.

Leeds United have continued to work hard and monitor the use of third-party ticketing agents to identify and expose supporters selling their tickets through unofficial channels.

The club can confirm that following recent home and away games, a number of supporters- both Season Ticket Holders and Members, who have resold their tickets to third-party resale sites have been identified. Following their actions, their Season Tickets and Memberships have been cancelled without refund, and their accounts have been suspended, with lifetime bans also issued.

We will now continue to work hard behind the scenes to expose supporters who are putting their tickets up for resale, with similar bans issued.

We would like to take this time to remind supporters to only purchase tickets officially via the Leeds United Ticket Office. Our official channels are the only way to legally purchase tickets for our games. This includes the Leeds United Ticket Exchange, which allows supporters to sell their seats for individual matches, to ensure the club can then distribute them to genuine and loyal supporters who have been unable to access tickets.

For further information around our Touting Policy, please see below.


Leeds United Touting Policy

We want to remind ALL supporters that all tickets purchased from Leeds United Football Club remain the property of the club at all times. We would urge all Season Ticket Holders to ensure that they make use of the club’s Ticket Exchange for any home Premier League matches they are unable to attend.

Leeds United Football Club reserves the right to take the strongest possible action against anyone found to be selling, offering for sale or passing on via any unofficial channel, match tickets and/or Season Tickets for any Leeds United fixtures.

This action may include the suspension from purchasing tickets and from attending all fixtures while investigations take place into any supporters that are suspected of selling, or advertising for sale, tickets to any fixture.

In the event that the club is satisfied that a ticket has been resold or passed on in breach of our Terms and Conditions, we reserve the right to issue a range of sanctions, depending on the severity of the situation and also the past conduct of the supporter(s) concerned. This can range from a temporary ban on accessing tickets, a temporary ban on attending matches and a permanent ban and cancellation of season tickets and/or memberships and all associated benefits, without refund.

For clarity, any person that offers any tickets for sale via unofficial secondary websites or any social media platforms, regardless of whether or not a sale actually takes place, will be subject to further action.

Additionally, we reserve the right to take precautionary action against any supporters who are linked to anyone found to have sold tickets unofficially. This can be a link via previous purchase history, recorded methods of payment or by postal and/or email address.

At all times it should also be noted that the touting of tickets is a criminal offence under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 and the Ticket Touting Order 2007 (Designation of Football Matches) and that a prosecution can end with a fine, general banning order and a criminal record for those found guilty.

We strongly advise all supporters NOT to purchase tickets from any unofficial websites or social media platforms. However, anyone that does and has concerns about the validity of their tickets can provide us with the details of their purchase by emailing tickets@leedsunited.com and titling their email ‘Suspected Unofficial Ticket Purchase’. 

While we are unable to assist in guaranteeing access to the stadium to attend the match concerned, the information provided will allow us to provide support to individuals in claiming any funds back on unauthorised tickets from credit card issuers. Such information will also assist us to continue to do everything possible to ensure that genuine tickets are allocated to genuine supporters and allow us to take action against unofficial sellers.

If anyone has any other information regarding touting related issues, these should also be reported using the above email address. This will again help us to ensure that tickets are allocated to genuine fans and in line with our own allocation rules and procedures.

Please note that all information we receive from supporters is kept confidential and will under no circumstances be disclosed to the individual who has resold their tickets.


Tickets for Leeds United Away Fixtures

 Leeds United are aware that a number of tickets for our away fixtures are sold, offered for sale or transferred unofficially to supporters that do not qualify for tickets to away matches. As a result, genuine supporters who may otherwise qualify for a ticket are denied the opportunity to support the team away from home.

Again, this is often done online via unofficial websites and social media. We regularly monitor such sites and will take the strongest possible action against any Season Ticket Holders or Members that are found to be acquiring match tickets with the intention of selling them on for profit and/or to boost their Away Attendance Tracker tally.

Any supporter found to have purchased tickets and subsequently sold or passed them on to other supporters, or offered for sale, will be subject to sanctions by the club including, but not limited to, a deduction to their Away Attendance Tracker, a season-long ban on applying for match tickets for any fixture played away from Elland Road, or a permanent cancellation of a Season Ticket or Membership and all associated benefits without refund.

In a further effort to ensure the correct supporters are using away match tickets we reserve the right to randomly select supporters to collect their away match tickets from the host venue on the day of a match. In such situations the host venue will be instructed to only release individual tickets to the named ticket holder who can show photographic identification as advised by Leeds United.


Appeals Procedure

Our appeals procedure provides supporters with a route to follow if they have a dispute with a decision or action taken by the club with regards to that individual which they deem unfair. Any supporter wishing to appeal a club sanction as a result of a ticketing issue must do so in writing within seven days of receiving the banning notice, stating their grounds for appeal and any mitigating factors that they wish to be considered. If the supporter is under the age of 16 years this must be signed by their parent/legal guardian.

Upon receiving the appeal request Leeds United Football Club will acknowledge receipt of the appeal in writing in the first instance. The appeal information will be reviewed by a senior member of club staff in order for a review of the situation to be carried out and a final decision to be taken.

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