Stadium Management South Africa admits that the Soweto Derby is fast becoming a ticking time bomb if a solution to the ticketing chaos is not found soon.
On February 1, in a fixture that was eventually won 1-0 by Orlando Pirates over rivals Kaizer Chiefs, more people attended than the capacity could allow.
By kick-off, more than 15,000 spectators were still outside struggling to gain entrance.
READ | Weekend Wrap: Ribeiro magic humbles Pirates, Chiefs find new hero?
Speaking to KickOff.com, Stadium Management Chief Executive Officer Bertie Grobbelaar explained how the event ended up with more tickets than the FNB Stadium capacity.
"The exact number of tickets that were sold for this event is even less than the stadium capacity because the safe capacity is 87 634, and then there are seat kills, complimentary tickets. So, there were far less than the capacity on sale," Grobbelaar said.
"There were massive amounts of fake tickets, till slip tickets. These are the tickets that are printed on normal paper, not a thermal ticket. They scan at the entry points with handout scanners.
"So, those till slip tickets are very easy to counterfeit. The plan was to discontinue in January 2025, but the problem is that you can't just go digital because you are going to exclude a lot of fans from getting access to tickets.
"So, we were in the process of starting a new ticketing system from the end of this season and the beginning of the new season so that we can run a proper campaign of crowd information and spectator education. But unfortunately, we will need to accelerate that process now.
"We can't have another derby with these till slip-like tickets," he added.
Grobbelaar revealed that 29 000 tickets were sold digitally for the Soweto Derby, while 46 000 were slip-like tickets.
"It's a process to find distribution areas where you can print the hard copy ticket. But we are accelerating that process now. So, for the next derby match or next big match, there will not be any of those till slip tickets sold at the venues we manage.
"So, as much as we would like to co-operate with the ticketing agents that are involved, we now need to change the landscape. We are also busy with changing access control systems.
READ | SAFA Review Committee: Why Soweto Derby ref awarded a penalty
"Over the last 10 months, we've installed a lot of cameras all over the venue, but we are working on a system where every ticket that is scanned will be indicated if it's a fake ticket or a legitimate ticket. Otherwise, we are sitting with a ticking time bomb.
"With thermal tickets, there are security features, but with that till slip tickets, it's impossible. What can the security feature be? The syndicate operators have got their printers. They print and sell tickets.
"But I give you my assurance that before the next derby, something will be done. I'm not saying we will be 100% there, but we need to do something."