Premier League tickets sold by touts abroad on black market 'in their thousands'

Thousands of Premier League tickets are flooding onto the black market in the UK - sold by ruthless touts based in other countries.

Companies in a number of overseas locations are exploiting a legal loophole to cash in on unprecedented demand. It sees fans forking out at massively inflated prices to see their teams. Prices ranged from £55 to almost £15,000 for a ticket. Four of the main companies offering tickets are registered in Spain, Dubai, Germany and Estonia.

They are therefore beyond the scope of UK law. One had offices in a Swiss town with a population of 4,000. They are thought to be using memberships and computer software to obtain tickets via clubs' online ticket platforms. Resale is illegal in the UK. Crucially, the law does not cover firms operating from abroad.

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The tickets typically cost two to four times the face value, and are often sent via WhatsApp. One firm offered tips on 'not speaking to stewards'. Top clubs including Liverpool and Everton made clear that they are doing their best to tackle the problem of blackmarket prices.

They have already cancelled tens of thousands of memberships and tickets. For last weekend's games, 33,000 tickets were listed for the four games across four different websites.

The four sites offered tens of thousands of Premier League tickets for sale.

More than 18,000 tickets were advertised for Arsenal v Nottingham Forest alone, almost a third of the Emirates' capacity.

Ticket security expert Reg Walker believes only 10-25 percent of those tickets "actually exist."

The cost often exceeds face value and usually includes a significant booking fee.

Mr Walker, who works with PL clubs, said: "We had a family of Japanese tourists who paid £2,200 for tickets with an £87 face value."

Tickets were even listed for Arsenal's exclusive Diamond Club and Manchester City's Tunnel Club.

The Football Supporters' Association called findings in the BBC probe "very concerning". FSA chair Tom Greatrex, an ex-Labour MP said: "It confirms what we've heard anecdotally...this is becoming endemic across the game.

"Long-term fans are finding it impossible to get tickets because of the way they are made available through secondary agencies.

"There seems to be a loophole where agencies are based abroad and that needs to be looked at in terms of legislation.

"If we have a situation where segregation is undermined to the extent you have away fans in home areas, there is potential for an incident to occur."

Fans groups have issued countless warnings about buying from touts in the past, for games at home and abroad.

Arsenal cancelled almost 74,000 accounts attempting to obtain tickets in unauthorised ways in "strong action against ticket touting".

Everton have been running "joint operations with Merseyside Police to act against touts operating online and in person".

Ticombo, registered in Germany, had offices in Engelberg, a mountain resort in central Switzerland with 4,000 inhabitants.

The only firm to respond to the probe, they highlighted "the important role of secondary markets in promoting consumer choice and competition".

They categorically rejected allegations of wrongdoing or possible illegal practices.

Ticombo said that "regulations that completely prohibit ticket resale are envisaged to protect consumers but, in reality, only grant a monopoly for the organisers".

The Premier League’s "unauthorised" list of ticket sellers contains more than 50 websites.

They declined to comment on the investigation.