Electronic tickets launched for Champions Trophy semis

Jaipur, Oct 31 (UNI) In a pioneering effort, Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) today announced the introduction of RFID (radio frequency identification) tickets for ICC Champions Trophy second semi final match between the West Indies and South Africa to be held here on Thursday.

Briefing newspersons, RCA deputy president Bimal Soni said it was first such adoption of technology for a cricket event in the world.

He said RFID-based ticketing solution developed by NXP was first introduced in the recently concluded Soccer World Cup held in Germany. With the success of the system the Rajasthan Cricket Association worked with NXP to deploy the 'hands free' tickets for the semi-final match of the ICC Champions Trophy in Jaipur on Thursday.

He said the RFID ticket introduced as a pilot project would be issued only to about 1000 VIP guests initially. The guests holding these highly secured tickets simply need to walk through the gate and his identity was verified in a computer at the entrace. It facilitates for quick and convenient entry into the stadium.

Soni said, ''RCA is the first cricket assoication in India to have adopted electronic ticketing system for an international cricketing event. Being adopted on a pilot project, RCA plans to introdcue this ticketing experience on a full fledged basis for the future events''.

Arvind Pai, senior Manager-Business development of NXP, elaborating on the benefits of the RFID tickets said first the new ticketing system promotes security and facilitates faster and convenient patron entry into the stadium. Besides, it prevents the use of fake tickets and easy for the organisers to keep a track on the identity of the spectators in case of any untoward incident of such high profile sporting events.

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