Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe TD has criticised an Tánaiste Leo Varadkar for not stepping in to protect Irish football fans from ticket touts ahead of the Ireland-Portugal World Cup Qualifier match even though he had the legislative powers to do so. Genuine fans are saying that some tickets for the game are being sold online for up to five times their value.

Teachta Crowe said:

“The issue of ticket touting has once again raised its ugly head in the run up to the eagerly awaited Ireland-Portugal World Cup Qualifier match.

“The Government are trying to blame the FAI for a problem that they allowed to prosper and grow. Ticket touting doesn’t just exist in soccer. It is across all sports and social activities. Blaming the FAI in this instance is simply trying to spare their own blushes and identity fool anyone.

“The FAI should, of course, have applied for the Ireland v Portugal game to be protected from ticket touting under the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021.

“When an application was not received from the FAI to protect this game from ticket touting, an Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and his Junior Minister Robert Troy should have intervened and applied the new law immediately to tickets for this game.

“This has been negligence on their behalf and another example of light touch regulation when it comes to corporate and business interests over fans. There is ample provision in the new legislation which allows the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, to intervene and protect a venue or event from ticket touting.

“This didn’t happen and once again it’s the genuine fan who will suffer from Government inaction.

“There needs to be a co-ordinated effort from An Tánaiste’s Department to identify potential events at risk from ticket touts and designate them as protected events as we move forward. What’s the point in passing legislation if you’re not going to implant it.

“Successive Governments have not taken ticket touting seriously and it is the ordinary fans who suffer the fall out financially because of it. We need to hear from an Tánaiste Leo Varadkar that his delay in taking decisive action was a once off incident and that it will never happen again.”