§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the sale of black market tickets at major sporting events.
§ Mr. MoynihanI understand the hon. Member's concern about the sale of black market tickets. In particular, I am concerned about the damage that such ticket sales for major football matches can do to the efforts of the police and clubs to segregate rival fans effectively. However, it is not yet clear that a practicable and enforceable legal answer to this problem can be found. It way well be that what is needed is tighter control by the organisers of sporting events over the distribution of tickets and the imposition of sanctions against those found abusing those controls. Following a report from the chief206W trading standards officer of Liverpool, difficulties over the allocation of tickets for last year's FA cup final have been referred to the Football Association by the Office of Fair Trading. I understand the OFT are awaiting a detailed response from the FA.