Liverpool FC & Merseyside Police Detain £1.2m In Ticket Touting Assets

Liverpool Football Club has strengthened its ongoing fight against ticket touting through a joint operation with Merseyside Police that has already detained more than £1.2m in assets linked to organised ticket touts.

Working alongside the club’s Investigations Team, Merseyside Police’s Economic Crime Team has targeted the laundering of criminal proceeds from illicit ticket sales, with a number of active cases continuing under Proceeds of Crime legislation.

In the past 12 months there have also been three ticket touting cases linked to Liverpool FC, two of which have resulted in convictions, while a further case is due before the courts next month.

The partnership forms part of Liverpool FC’s wider zero-tolerance approach to ticket touting, combining online fraud detection, matchday interventions and police enforcement to protect genuine supporters from being exploited, ripped off or scammed.

Alongside the assets detained, which will be split between Merseyside Police and the Home Office, the club analysed almost 700,000 ticket registrations last season. This resulted in 67,663 suspected fake accounts being blocked or cancelled, with a further 121,379 accounts currently under investigation.

The work has led to 432 lifetime bans across the 2025/26 season, including 383 All Red Members, 41 Season Ticket Holders and eight Seasonal Hospitality Members. A further 115 indefinite suspensions were issued, comprising 91 All Red Members and 24 Season Ticket Holders.

A lifetime ban is permanent, while an indefinite suspension carries a minimum period, typically three years, after which the account holder must apply for reinstatement.

Both sanctions include a right of appeal, followed by a further right to appeal to the Independent Football Ombudsman.

The majority of bans and suspensions related to the unauthorised selling of season tickets, membership tickets or hospitality tickets in breach of the club’s terms and conditions.

On matchdays, increased investigatory resource has also delivered a 33% rise in the number of burner phones identified and denied entry to Anfield or seized by Merseyside Police.

Targeted stops for accounts with suspicious activity also rose sharply, from 381 during the 2024/25 season to 3,608 last season, an increase of 847%.

The stops were carried out at Anfield, averaging around 300 per home game, as well as at away fixtures in the Premier League and in European competition.

A further 3,847 tickets were cancelled for suspicious purchase activity across the 2025/26 season and returned to general admission sale, increasing availability for genuine supporters.

Beyond ticket touting, Liverpool FC also highlighted 28 cases through its Red Together initiative, the club’s long-term commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion at Anfield and St Helen’s.

These cases led to sanctions ranging from lifetime bans to indefinite suspensions, including three for racist and homophobic abuse, 13 for inappropriate touching or language, four for assault and one for tragedy chanting.

Liverpool FC recently announced a number of ticketing changes for next season following a comprehensive review and says it will continue to increase resource targeting those involved in touting activity.

The club is urging supporters not to buy tickets from unofficial online channels or unauthorised sellers. Its research suggests that upwards of nine out of ten tickets listed on unofficial sites either do not exist or are touted tickets that have been sold multiple times.

Liverpool FC says supporters should only purchase Anfield tickets through official club channels to guarantee they are genuine.