Right on the cusp of the first meetings of the Dutch Parliament, on November 26th,  concerning new, restrictive legislation in the Secondary Ticketing Market, officials came forth from both the KNVB (National Football Association) and Mojo Concerts (part of Live Nation) with allegations of strong arm tactics from shadowy, mafia-linked players in the secondary ticket market. The story, alleging that officials were threatened with violence if they interfered with the lucrative secondary market any longer, made major press in the Netherlands appearing on front pages of newspapers and on the evening news across the country.

 The recently-formed Dutch wing of the EU Ticketing Association (EUSTA) quickly distanced itself:

"The Association for EUSTA secondary ticket market is a fierce opponent of all forms of violence and threats of intermediaries. The members of EUSTA absolutely do not recognize themselves in this mornings alleged statement.

Recently, EUSTA adopted a code of conduct. which takes effect January 1, 2010  and provides consumer safeguards, including transparency of the ticket price and certainty of refunds. The EUSTA logo, and the Code of Conduct, are also on the websites of all secondary ticket members.

EUSTA disagrees with the bill introduced this morning by the Socialist Party (SP), that seeks to put a cap on the resale of tickets by restricting to a ten percent markup, which will be counterproductive, particularly for consumers. The bill will only encourage the black market with all its consequences and there is a high probability that the secondary ticket market will simply relocate abroad or go underground. Thus, the consumer guarantees and transparency EUSTA offers will be lost."

Industry analysts and political pundits in the Netherlands are divided on how this will affect the upcoming vote - some feeling that it bolsters the case of EUSTA, others feel it could be a trigger in pushing government to take more control of the industry itself.