The software for the acquisition of electronic tickets will be available in mid-May and will also serve to enter the stadium.
In the UEFA EURO 2020, the next most outstanding national football tournament in Europe, an app for smartphones based on blockchain technology will be used to distribute more than 1 million tickets electronically. The novel methodology will be used from the beginning of the tournament.
This new modality was announced by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), last February 17th. Besides, they stressed that customers who have already made a purchase order will receive their mobile tickets through the course of the days, up to one week before the game.
As part of this new way of selling tickets, UEFA also explained that the app that will be used to purchase electronic tickets will be available for download. This would take place at the end of May. The UEFA EURO 2020 software will be enabled for iOS and Android operating systems.
Those fans that have already purchased their ticket since December of last year may still obtain their ticket electronically. When they bought their tickets, they had to register an email. In that email address, they would receive a message redirecting them to download the app. When installing this tool on the phone, customers must register their email address to receive a new code.
Once entered into the app, the code will send a notification to receive the electronic entry on the phone. According to data provided regarding the application, the program will allow to send the tickets to each companion’s mobile phone or have all the tickets in only one device.
If a person wants to send some tickets to their companions, he will only have to enter their emails and the system will send the tickets. In the other case, if the fan will keep the tickets in a single device, he must enter the personal data of his companions in the app. This will allow the personalization of the ticket and will maintain the security of the purchase.
For the fan to use the ticket and attend the event, he must take the phone and activate the Bluetooth option. When the user is about to enter the stadium, he will have to open the application and show it to the security officer. An official will certify the ticket through a validation device, and then the fan will scan a QR code to open the passage in the turnstiles.
When announcing the new modality for ticket acquisition, UEFA did not detail the blockchain system they used to create the application. However, they explained that the system has already been tested on previous occasions. In 2019, for that year’s edition of the UEFA Nations League, some 110,000 tickets were sold using a similar system. Just as two years ago, in 2018, tickets were also sold for the final of the European Super Cup using an electronic distribution system.
Although no blockchain details were offered, at the end of last year it was known that the Football Association would have achieved an alliance with AlphaWallet, which works with the Ethereum network to tokenize around 20,000 tickets for this upcoming EURO event 2020. This time, they did not clarify whether they will use this same system for the million tickets.
This year, UEFA EURO 2020 will celebrate its inauguration in the city of Rome, in Italy. The competition will begin on June 12th and will culminate on July 12th.
By María Rodríguez
