Accra, Feb. 4, GNA - The National Sports Council (NSC) has taken ste= ps to curb ticket racketeering, corruption and cheating at the gates during matches resulting with the mass destruction of unused tickets. The Council on Wednesday, destroyed thousands of unused tickets, which have been kept at their store room for years and the latest move is to ensure that gate checkers do not smuggle the unused tickets into new ones thereby denying the Clubs and the state the due revenue. According to the NSC, some corrupt gate keepers have been creating artificial shortage of newly printed tickets with the aim of smuggling in old ones for sale so that they can in the process make fortunes out of the fraudulent activity.

The destruction exercise was conducted in the presence of the Chief Executive of the (NSC) and officials of the Premier League Board (PLB) and the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

Speaking to the GNA Sports later, Worlanyo Agrah, Chief Executive Officer of the NSC, said the presence of unsold tickets have created room for corruption and cheating at the gates and the Council is bent on dealing with the situation, hence the decision to destroy the unused tickets. He noted that the exercise was in line with the directives of the Beblieb Committee, which investigated the death of nine soccer fans at the Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi during a League match between Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

The Committee recommended the ban on the sale of unused tickets for subsequent matches.

According to the CEO, the burnt tickets were also from other League centers across the country.

He, however, added that, they are expecting more unused tickets from Upper West and Brong Ahafo Regions. Agrah indicated that the exercise will also ensure his outfit's stor= e room is cleared of unwanted materials. He said the Council will henceforth embark on periodic destruction of all unused tickets since its presence at the store room result in the temptation to engage in cheating in by some unscrupulous persons.