The transgression from the alpine skiing slopes to Lerkendal Apr 13th will not neccessarily be so great for the spectators. As in the skiing resorts Vassfjellet and Oppdal, you are now supposed to use "ski elevator tickers" to parttake in the fun.

ELEVATOR CARD: New electronic ticket system in place at Lerkendal. Photo: Skidata

Lerkendal will thus be the first football arena in Northern Europe that uses electronic admission control.

"Season ticket holders will get smartcards with data chips, while 'normal' spectators will get coded tickets," says Grete Øiaas, RBK Responsible for Tickets, to rbkweb.com.

This means a similar system to the alpine skiing hills: The season tickets does not need to be physically in touch with the card readers to be read, and so one can actually let the ticket stay in the pocket and still gain entrance. Those with "day cards" (read: match tickets) will on the other hand have to push the ticket through a reader.

It is Norwegian company Billettservice who, in cooperation with Austrian Skidata, delivers this system at Lerkendal. The cost has been EUR 400.000, and 41 card readers are in place at the different entrances.

"To sneak into the stadium is impossible from now on, and at the same time we are certain that the time it takes to find your seat is reduced," Endre Storholt, Event Manager of Rosenborg, says to the club newspaper "On Extra Time".

All season card holders can from now re-buy their seats for domestic and European cup matches from their homes.

"Season card holders will not have to actually collect a ticket when they order tickets for European cup matches. They merely need to access the Internet, reveal their card number, order the seat, and the card will be loaded automatically," Storholt sums up.