The Spain National Football Team start using Blockchain Technology
Madrid, Feb 1 (EFE) — The tickets for the matches of ‘La Roja’, the Spanish national football team, will have ‘Blockchain’ technology that will prevent physical resale and fraud from the next match of Luis Enrique Martínez’s team, on 23rd March against Norway, at the Mestalla stadium (Valencia).
The agreement between the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Hispanic-Canadian company Nodalblock, which specialises in the use of this technology for different business applications, has made it possible to create a security system that will incorporate this technology into the tickets sold by the RFEF.
“This system will prevent selling false tickets and eliminate physical resale points. In addition to making the process secure, we have eliminated illegal resale,” Nodalblock’s president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, David Lanau, told EFE.
This technological platform will be connected to the official RFEF points of sale, so that when a person buys a ticket to see the selection, they will have to give their mobile phone number, which will be sent a message with a PIN code and a download link to an application with their ticket.
The entry will be “encoded and encrypted” and linked to a code within a Blockchain network, the Blockchain Technology that generates a code associated with each entry that records the transaction and is immutable, such that it guarantees the authenticity of the entry.
“When a buyer wants to give it to a friend, the process is repeated: he has to put the friend’s mobile phone, which will receive the pin and a link,” adds Lanau.
On the match day, the spectator will show on his mobile that ticket downloaded from the link and certified thanks to Blockchain Technology to access the stadium. In this way, the falsification of both physical and digital tickets is avoided, since all of them are supported by a code that cannot be modified.
The plans of Nodalblock and the RFEF is that, in addition to Spain-Norway, it can also be used in the final of the King’s Cup and the Queen’s Cup, as well as in the future with the clubs of Second Division ‘B’ and Third.
Even the technology could have easy transfer to LaLiga, both for general sales tickets and for club subscribers, as the same transfer system can be applied to members who want to free up their seat.
“We built a prototype and when UEFA was considering using Blockchain, we called the Federation. They showed a very high interest with the great vision. We were surprised that they saw very quickly something that some companies innovation departments find more difficult, admits Lanau.
The specialist in Blockchain does not believe that the Spain-Norway of March 23rd is a test, as it ensures that although it is a system of “complex technological base” for the amateur will be “very simple”, as it will only need a smart phone with Internet access and geolocation technology.
This system has already been presented to other international sports competitions that could set it in motion in the future, and would even be interested in other areas outside of sports, such as the sale of tickets for musical shows.
According to Lanau, this type of technology could prevent a resale company from instantly buying most concert tickets for sale directly on the secondary market, since the tool requires that for each ticket or group of tickets valid and different phone numbers in which the code is activated be delivered.
Nodalblock is a company founded by a group of Spanish that offers Blockchain Technology applied to different sectors, based in Canada since it received an investment from the Numus Financial group. They currently provide services to financial companies, insurance companies, medical services and, as of this week, to the Spanish Football Federation.
Media: Lavanguardia
