Soccer Team Requires Fans To Scan Hands Before Entering Games

(Paula S)

If you think it’s a hassle getting a pat-down and walking through a metal detector at an NFL or baseball game, that’s nothing compared to what fans of one professional soccer team have to go through. In an effort to identify hooligans and cut down on hooliganism, the team now requires hand scans from all of its hometown fans before entering the stadium.

According to the Washington Post, if you’re a supporter of the Ferencvarosi Torna Club in the Hungarian League, you’ll need to visit the stadium before a game to have your hand scanned into the team’s database.

That scan is then linked to an ID card that you must have with you when you attend the game, where both the card and your hand will be scanned at security checkpoints.

Not only does it mean that you can’t sell your tickets — unless you’ve found some sort of Mission: Impossible method of quickly creating a replica of your hand that you can pass around to your buddies — but if you’ve had a little too much to drink and gotten so rowdy that you get ejected from the stadium, you won’t be allowed in again because the hand-scanner will know you’re that jerk who threw a punch during that match against Budapest Honvéd FC.

A group of Ferencvarosi fans have been boycotting home games in response to the invasive scans, which all ticket-holders over the age of 16 must provide. And supporters of Ferencvarosi were joined earlier this month by fans of other clubs in a protest against the technology outside of Hungary’s parliament.

A rep for the stadium operator tells the Post that it’s understandable why people are skeptical about the scans, but says, “we believe those skeptics will come to understand soon that this move serves only one purpose: we can identify whether the cardholder who [is] entitled to access the stadium has the card.”

Meanwhile, supporters of visiting teams — who sit in a separate section that is partitioned off from home team fans — don’t need to have their hands scanned. They must, however, bring a “supporters” card supplied by their home team.

All Ferencvarosi fans over age 16 are required to have their hands scanned to buy tickets. Supporters of visiting teams don’t have to have their hands scanned, but they must bring their supporters card, which is issued by their home team. Ferencvarosi instituted these changes as it opened a new stadium this year, which was partitioned off to prevent home and away fans from intermixing and fighting.

The stadium operators say that they can scan 22,000 fans over the course of 90 minutes.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist