How LIGA MX verifies 4.7M fans with Incode
LIGA MX, Mexico's First Division of professional soccer, works with Incode on Fan ID, a biometric access system running at 17 stadiums across the country. A fan enrolls once with a selfie and an ID document, and identity verification ties a real person to every entry, with a gate check designed to clear each fan in under 5 seconds. Since launch, 4.7M fans have enrolled and Fan ID has operated at more than 1,300 matches, helping keep the stands safe while entry stays fast.
identities enrolled since launch, enough to fill Estadio Azteca 54 times
matches operated with Fan ID at the gate
stadiums live across Liga MX, the country's First Division
nationalities among the fans enrolled
Mexico's First Division, with a nation of fans at the gate
LIGA MX is the highest level of professional soccer in Mexico, and match day is the heartbeat of the country's sporting life.
Its clubs fill stadiums across Mexico every week, drawing fans from around the world. Every one of them passes through a gate, and every gate now starts with a verified identity.
A league that fills stadiums every week needs to know who is in the stands without slowing the gate. Identity verification gives LIGA MX that record: fans enroll once and carry one verified identity that works at every First Division venue.
Violence in the stands
In 2022, Mexican soccer lived one of its worst days: fan violence at a match left 26 people injured.
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01
No record of who was in the stands
Clubs had no reliable record of who attended a match. Video caught the chaos but could not put a name to a face.
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02
Offenders could always come back
The people responsible could walk back through the gate the next matchday, and nothing stood in their way.
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One standard, at national scale
Mexican soccer authorities wanted a single safety standard for every stadium in the country, and it had to hold when tens of thousands of fans arrive in the same hour.
LIGA MX needed to know exactly who was in every stand in the country, without turning the gate into a bottleneck.
One identity, from the phone to the turnstile
Working in close collaboration with the league, Incode adapted its fully in-house technology to the needs of soccer fans and built Fan ID as a purpose-built biometric access system.
A fan sets it up once; from then on, their face is their ticket to safety at every venue.
Enroll once, from a phone
Identity Verification · Selfie + document · passive liveness
A fan registers with a single selfie and an ID document, and the result is a secure Fan ID they carry on their phone.
Prove it's you at the gate
Authentication · 1:1 face re-authentication · designed for <5s
At the stadium, a scan of the Fan ID and a live facial capture confirm the person is who they registered as. The check is designed to clear a fan in under 5 seconds, so a venue can move tens of thousands of people through entry on match day.
Keep barred offenders out
Restricted-access enforcement
Because entry is tied to a verified identity, the league gains a clear record of who attended each match. Fans who behave badly on matchday can be added to a blocklist and kept from coming back, which helps keep families safe in the stands. Camera footage alone could never make that stick.
When the stadium where the violence happened reopened, the first match back was played with no reported incidents. Fans returned in numbers: at peak, 99K+ registered for a single three-day matchday.
How it works
One trusted identity across every venue
A real person, not a photo
Passive liveness at enrollment confirms a real, present person rather than a photo or a spoof.
An encrypted Fan ID
The verified identity travels as an encrypted QR code. The gate scan retrieves the enrolled template and matches it to a live capture of the fan's face.
150+ document types
Enrollment reads more than 150 document types, covering fans from 130+ nationalities, so anyone can register from their own phone.
A record that makes blocklists stick
Every entry ties to a verified identity, so barred offenders stay out and the same standard runs at every First Division stadium.
Trusted experience, proven integrity
LIGA MX trusted Incode's experience and the integrity of a fully in-house solution, backed by independent proof: iBeta-certified liveness and NIST-evaluated face recognition.
Privacy is the architecture
Incode made privacy a founding conviction long before regulation or the market asked for it. Fan ID handles vast data demands while keeping fans' personal information safe.
Testimonial
“The arrival of Fan ID at all LIGA MX stadiums speaks to the great commitment we have to our fans in all venues, considerably improving their security. This is a historic measure for soccer in Mexico.”
Mikel Arriola, Executive President, LIGA MX
Frequently asked questions
Questions specific to the LIGA MX story
Still have questions? Talk to an expertWhat is Fan ID at LIGA MX stadiums?
Fan ID is a biometric access system that Incode built with LIGA MX after the fan violence of 2022. A fan enrolls once with a selfie and an ID document, and from then on their face confirms their entry at every First Division stadium.
How do fans enroll in Fan ID?
Enrollment happens on the fan's own phone with one selfie and an ID document. The flow reads more than 150 document types, which lets fans from over 130 nationalities register, and passive liveness checks that a live person, not a photo or a spoof, is enrolling.
How fast is the Fan ID check at the gate?
The gate pairs a scan of the fan's encrypted Fan ID with a live facial capture, in a check designed to finish in under 5 seconds. That pace lets a venue admit tens of thousands of people arriving in the same hour on match day.
How does Fan ID help keep offenders out of the stands?
Each entry is tied to a verified identity, so the league knows who attended every match. A fan who misbehaves on matchday can be added to a blocklist, and the gate check can keep that person from returning, which helps protect families in the stands.
What results has LIGA MX seen since Fan ID launched?
Since launch, 4.7M identities have been enrolled, the equivalent of filling Estadio Azteca 54 times over, and Fan ID has operated at more than 1,300 matches across 17 stadiums. When the stadium where the 2022 violence happened reopened, the reopening match finished with no reported incidents, and at peak more than 99K fans registered for a single three-day matchday.
How does Fan ID protect fans' personal information?
Incode treats privacy as part of the architecture, a conviction it held long before regulation or the market asked for it, and the Fan ID moves with the fan as an encrypted QR code. The underlying technology is fully in-house, with liveness certified by iBeta and face recognition evaluated by NIST.
What's next
See how Incode secures physical access at scale
Verify a real identity once, and confirm the same person at every gate, in seconds.