Porto have dismantled one of the largest ticket-scalping networks uncovered in football, reclaiming hundreds of seats at their Estádio do Dragão that had been exploited for profit on the illegal resale market. The operation was earning its ringleaders tens of thousands of euros a match.
Porto said one alleged ringleader had convinced dozens of people to hand over personal details, which he used to register them as club members and purchase season tickets in their names. “These schemes reached an impressive scale, with dozens of seats controlled by a single individual,” the club said in a statement to the Guardian. “We also identified businesses processing hundreds of transactions, serving as fronts for this unlawful activity.”
Tourists were the primary targets and, according to the club, some tickets sold for as much as €800 (£695). Hundreds of seats have been identified and returned to Porto’s control but the investigation is ongoing and the tally could rise.
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“We also detected fake tickets being sold at inflated prices,” the club said. “Unfortunately, in those cases, there is little we can do beyond advising fans not to buy from unofficial channels.”
The Guardian was alerted to the scalping operation after Porto’s season opener against Vitória Guimarães on 11 August, when two Danish tourists, proudly wearing the club’s blue and white colours, were chatting at the metro station next to the stadium. “The experience was amazing,” one of the fans said, “but the prices were surprisingly steep. The tickets cost €200 each – we weren’t expecting to pay that much for a regular Portuguese league match. And we were behind one of the goals; the view wasn’t the best.”
The pair had used online resale platforms to secure seats for the sold-out match. Their gamble paid off – the tickets arrived in their Google Wallets – but something seemed off. One ticket bore the name of a woman – a Porto member – and the other was a season-ticket QR code. In theory, that code could have granted entry to every home league match this season, provided it was scanned first at the turnstile.
“When we bought the tickets, we received a message telling us to delete the passes from our wallets after the game,” said the fan who held the season ticket. The Guardian opened an investigation but police, it transpired, were on the case. In a coordinated operation with Porto, they cracked down on the network weeks later.
Ticket scalping has been commonplace for years at Porto. Until André Villas-Boas was elected president last year, transactions often took place in plain sight before matches, frequently involving the club’s ultras. The main supporters’ group, Super Dragões, reportedly received thousands of tickets from the club at discounted rates, which they resold for profit around the stadium.
André Villas-Boas has worked to give power back to regular fans since he became the president of Porto. Photograph: Octávio Passos/Uefa/Getty Images
Villas-Boas, the former Chelsea and Tottenham manager, promised to restore transparency and give power back to regular fans. The ultras’ privileges were revoked and the club switched to a fully online ticketing system designed to reward loyalty.
But scalpers adapted – and aimed higher. They began purchasing seats in premium areas, more expensive upfront but capable of yielding far greater profit. With the team performing well and the 50,000-seat stadium frequently selling out days in advance, business was booming. In some uncovered cases, deals were made through messaging apps, cutting out the commissions charged by resale platforms.
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“The most common method of resale was through digital platforms,” the club said. “But we also detected groups on social media, WhatsApp and other channels that were more informal and discreet. FC Porto is closely monitoring the evolution of these murky dealings and their participants.”
The crackdown has been added by Portuguese police to a broader investigation it launched in 2024 into ticketing schemes run by the ultras. A police spokesperson said: “In this operation FC Porto cooperated with the authorities and has since become an assistant in the ongoing court case, which remains under legal secrecy during the investigation.”
After Porto’s action do Portuguese fans believe the club acted in defence of supporters’ interests – or their own? “Both,” says Martha Gens, spokesperson for APDA, the Portuguese supporters’ association. “We’re talking about a country where the [monthly] minimum wage isn’t even €1,000. We believe there should be legal caps on ticket prices. And after all, ticket-scalping is a crime in Portugal – we shouldn’t forget that.”
The ringleaders and their accomplices will have to answer not only to the authorities but also to Porto. The club are weighing disciplinary measures that could lead to their permanent expulsion from membership.
