Fans who own 2011 IIHF World Championship tickets (04.29-15.05.2011) and doubt their authenticity may have them verified. The official ticketing company - Ticketportal – has set up two outlets where ticket holders may voluntarily check tickets that have not been purchased via the official channels (i.e. outside the network of Ticketportal outlets), or tickets received as gifts.
Ticket holders in Bratislava can approach Ticketportal staff at the Fan Village mobile POS between 9:00. and 19:00. In Košice tickets can be checked in the Ticketportal outlet on Nerudova 12 (opposite the Steel Arena) between 9:00 and 13:00.
Ticketportal is - in the interests of verification – allowed to request personal data and the means by which the owner took possession of the respective ticket. Note that if the verification process a ticket proves to be inauthentic, the police will be called in to secure the ticket as evidence.
In providing this service we wish to meet fans halfway because of the increasing number of counterfeit or inactive tickets appearing at the 2011 IIHF World Championship in Bratislava and Košice.
Inactive tickets are tickets which have been stolen. The Organizing Committee reiterates that stolen ticket numbers are recorded in the Ticketportal system which renders them without doubt invalid. With these tickets – in spite of them featuring all the correct authentication marks – fans will not gain access to the stadiums.
Ten fake tickets were seized by police on Tuesday the 3rd of May in front of Bratislava Orange Arena before the Slovakia – Russia game. Tickets were to be sold before the game to Austrian fans by an unknown offender for 1500 Euros. The police have pressed fraud charges against the offender who faces 2 years of imprisonment if convicted.
Each original ticket has 6 security features including holograms, a watermark and a serial number. The date and time of purchase, sales number and outlet logo is featured on all tickets. The paper on which the tickets is printed is slightly yellowish and does not glow under a UV lamp. The digit number on the counterfoil and the ticket and must be the same. Every ticket also has an individual barcode.
More information on the Championship can be found at: www.iihf.com
