Bill introduced to penalise Euro 2020 ticket touts

Ticket touts at Euro 2020 matches could be fined up to £5,000 under new legislation introduced to the Scottish Parliament.

The UEFA European Championship (Scotland) Bill would make it a crime to tout tickets for profit, either in person, via secondary resale sites or privately.

Street trading, and advertising, will also be prohibited within "event zones" in Glasgow at certain times during the championship period, which runs from 1 June to 12 July next year.

Glasgow is one of 12 host cities for Euro 2020. Four matches will be held at Hampden Park between 15 and 30 June.

However there will be three event zones in the city, including in George Square and the Merchant City, as there will be a programme of activity in the city centre to celebrate the tournament coming to Glasgow.

Europe Minister Ben Macpherson commented: “Glasgow has become one of the world’s top cities for major sporting events, and Euro 2020 will build on the success of hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and the European Championships last year.

“As well as bringing thousands of people into the city and increasing trade for shops, restaurants and hotels, these tournaments help showcase Scotland as an outward-looking, welcoming nation.

“The Scottish Government is determined to support fair access to tickets so that as many fans as possible can enjoy the matches, which is why we’re making touting a criminal offence. This will help ensure that Euro 2020 tickets are not sold at vastly inflated prices.”

Click here to access the bill and related papers.