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The stage set up for the concert this weekend. Danny Lawson PA Wire/PA Images
Ticket Touts
Over '10,000 unscrupulous applications' made for free tickets to Manchester benefit gig
Ticketmaster said it was aiming to ensure that “opportunists and touts” do not get their hands on tickets for the gig.
TICKETMASTER HAS SET aside 14,200 free tickets for Sunday’s benefit concert for Manchester victims, but it said that over 10,000 “unscrupulous applications” were made for these tickets.
The free tickets were set aside for those who attended the Ariana Grande concert on 22 May, where 22 people died following a suicide bombing.
The ticket seller said that it was aiming to ensure that “opportunists and touts” do not get their hands on tickets for the gig.
One Love Manchester will take place at Old Trafford cricket ground, and will also be broadcast live on the BBC from 7pm on Sunday.
A star-studded line up is set to feature, with Ariana Grande set to sing live for the first time since the terror attack.
Joining her are Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Robbie Williams, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, Take That and others.
Net ticket proceeds will go to the “We Love Manchester Emergency Fund” set up by the local council and the British Red Cross, to help the grieving families and victims.
A number of free tickets, however, were set aside for those who’d attended Ariana Grande.
Ticketmaster said in a statement: “We have set aside tickets for the 14,200 people who were at the Ariana Grande concert to attend One Love Manchester for free.
More than 25,000 people applied for them. Sadly, over 10,000 unscrupulous applications have been made.
At Ticketmaster we are doing everything we can – including extending today’s deadline – to ensure that tickets go to the actual fans and not the opportunists or touts who have also been applying for free tickets.
Grande said that the nothing would heal the pain of those who have lost loved ones, but that music “is meant to heal us, to bring us together”.
She said in a statement: “We will continue to honour the ones we lost, their loved ones, my fans and all affected by this tragedy. They will be on my mind and in my heart everyday and I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life.”
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