FC Barcelona join FEAT European ticketing alliance
FC Barcelona have become the first sports club to join the Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT) in its mission for a Europe-wide ban on event ticket resale above face value.
The agreement was signed at the office of the La Liga giants’ president Joan Laporta, who was joined by VP of marketing area Juli Guiu and FEAT founding director Neo Sala, founder and CEO of Barcelona-based concert promoter Doctor Music.
The club have already started implementing a series of measures to combat unauthorised ticket resale – including personalised tickets and a tracking system to prevent misuse – as part of their ‘Visiting Supporter Security and Control Protocol’ for high-risk fixtures.
“We’re delighted to bring FC Barcelona, our first non-music member, on board to continue our fight against unethical ticket resale,” says Sala. “This strengthens our voice, building a united front on the issue across entertainment and live events. In this way, FC Barcelona becoming FEAT’s first sports member, Barcelona will now become FEAT’s official home city, and will host its Annual General Meeting there every year.”
“Tackling unauthorised ticket resale has been a priority of the club’s for some time so this partnership makes perfect sense”
In becoming FEAT’s latest member, FC Barcelona have joined with live events professionals across Europe to make three key promises as part of their pledge: to fight for face-value ticket resale, to only support resale marketplaces that are legally compliant and embrace transparency, and to stand up to search engines and social media platforms accepting advertising from irregular resale platforms.
“Tackling unauthorised ticket resale has been a priority of the club’s for some time so this partnership makes perfect sense,” adds Guiu. “This alliance is also aligned with the different actions that FC Barcelona has been undertaking to protect its members and season ticket holders against any situation and for purchasers of tickets for all sectors to feel safe in the knowledge that the tickets they buy are legitimate and fairly priced.”
Since its 2019 launch, FEAT boasts achievements including helping to secure key provisions in EU law to regulate resale platforms such in as the Digital Services Act and its publication of two guides on best practice to avoid unauthorised ticket resale.
It also unveiled its Make Tickets Fair! campaign in 2023 to help music fans avoid being ripped off on the secondary ticketing market.
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Primavera Sound condemns arrests of Catalan leaders
Barcelona festival Primavera Sound has condemned the arrests of more than a dozen Catalan politicians on the orders of the Spanish government, saying it stands “united” with all those who “suffered a violation of their fundamental civil rights” in today’s police action.
The paramilitary Civil Guard this morning raided government offices in Barcelona a bid to halt the planned 1 October vote on independence for Catalonia, detaining 14 officials, including the region’s vice-president, Oriol Junqueras, and seizing computer equipment and nearly 10m ballot papers.
Spain has also announced it is to take back much of the region’s devolved spending powers, in what Catalan president Carles Puigdemont says amounts to the suspension of self-government and the imposition of a “de facto state of emergency”.
Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy defended the crackdown, saying Spain “had to act”, and that there is “no democratic state in the world that would accept what these people are trying to do” (apparently forgetting there was a state-sanctioned referendum in Scotland almost exactly three years ago).
“We at Primavera Sound condemn any action that prevents the free and full exercise of democratic rights”
“Primavera Sound cannot and does not want to keep quiet about the events that have taken place over the past few days in Catalonia and especially what has taken place today in Barcelona, the city which hosts the festival,” reads a statement from Primavera Sound, issued this afternoon. “This is why we want to publicly manifest our support for all the institutions, bodies and people that in the last few hours have suffered a violation of their fundamental civil rights.
“Aside from ideologies and political inclinations, we at Primavera Sound condemn any action that prevents the free and full exercise of these democratic rights, and we urge all those who feel assaulted to take a serene, civic and peaceful stance in the face this adversity. Today we stand united.”
Football club FC Barcelona has also criticised the police action, saying it is committed to “the defence of the nation, to democracy, to freedom of speech and to self-determination, [and] condemns any act that may impede the free exercise of these rights”.
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