Police are hoping scalpers think twice before rocking up to Saturday’s AFL Grand Final, threatening “extreme” penalties for people caught trying to make a quick buck on tickets to Australia’s premier sporting event.
A heavy police presence will patrol the MCG ahead of the Hawthorn–Sydney Grand Final and will hand out potentially back-breaking fines to those partaking in the scalping business.
Individuals found selling “one ticket even $1 over the face value” will face a fine of $738 while a multiple ticket infraction will set a scalper back $8,800.
But it’s scalping ‘organisations’ facing the drastic fines, which start $44,000 and go as high as $400,000.
“Organisations (found) operating in a calculated, meaningful and significant manner, penalties are over $400,000,” Sports Minister Damian Drum said on Tuesday.
Police are already cracking down on social media and online classifieds in an attempt to wipe out scalping from this year’s Grand Final.
“We are monitoring these sites every hour, and we are contacting sites that have any tickets for sale to make sure they are taken off,” Drum added.
“Thirty tickets have already been taken off … and we want to remind everyone that this is a declared event, and every ticket is registered with the AFL.”
Police will also take a zero-tolerance stance towards excessive drinking, warning of big fines and stadium evictions for those over indulging in the MCG’s $7.10 beers.
“If you drink excessively to get drunk, if you’re engaging in anti-social behaviour … you stand a very real chance of being evicted from the game, or being locked up if you’re caught drunk, ” warned Police Assistant Commissioner Shane Patton.
“No one wants to wake up on Sunday morning with a $590 fine for being drunk and a $738 fine for being drunk and disorderly – it’s a very expensive day at the football to wake up and say: ‘I don’t remember anything about it’.”
Photo: Getty Images
