UEFA hit touts in new blitz

Ticket touts are being hit by a UEFA crackdown to stop them buying and selling tickets for England's Euro 2004 matches on the internet.

The European governing body has won a series of civil court orders in a bid to boost their fight against the booming black market.

The most significant relates to ebay, the world's largest online auction site, which must now provide UEFA with names and addresses of British users who are found selling England tickets. Such information could then lead to legal action being taken against touts. Ebay has responded by reminding all its users that they are banned from reselling football tickets in England because it is a criminal offence.

An ebay spokesman said: "Listings for tickets for matches involving England at Euro 2004 will be ended once ebay is aware of them.

"The resale of tickets for football matches is highly regulated in England and Wales for a number of reasons, including security at sports events.

"Criminal law often prohibits the resale of such football tickets.

"For these reasons, all listings for football tickets to professional matches occurring in England and Wales or involving English or Welsh teams playing outside England or Wales are prohibited."