FOLLOWING A POLICE OFFICER’S DEATH, GREEK FOOTBALL FANS WILL REQUIRE A STATE-ISSUED QR CODE TO ATTEND GAMES.

On Tuesday, Greek officials banned paper tickets for all league football matches in an effort to reduce the violence that has plagued the sport for decades.

Under the new laws, supporters will only be permitted into stadiums if they use their cellphones and present a government-issued QR code, allowing them to be identified and attendance bans enforced.

Stadiums have been closed to fans for two months so that security measures can be reviewed following the death of a police officer hit by a flare during a fan riot in Athens last December.

Beginning Tuesday, spectators must purchase tickets online and verify their purchase with a state-run app used to pay taxes and access online government services.

Dimitris Papastergiou, a minister for digital governance, stated that the full phase-out of paper tickets will take one month. Exceptions, he claimed, would be granted for youngsters and seniors, and the new approach will be extended to other sporting events following summer.

“The goal is also to relieve the Greek police from the need to provide hundreds of officers at stadiums.” “Police will not be required at stadium entrances,” Papastergiou said state-run ERT TV.

The minister stated that 10,000 of the current 80,000 season-ticket holders have already migrated to the new computerized system.