FIFA member behind illegal Cup ticket sales: police

Soccer's powerful governing body came under renewed scrutiny after a Brazilian police chief said on Thursday a FIFA member provided thousands of World Cup tickets sold illegally at games for millions of dollars.

Police commissioner Fabio Barucke said "someone from FIFA" and "an intermediary from Match Hospitality", FIFA's ticket agency, had channeled the tickets onto the black market.

The FIFA figure, whom police are trying to identify, is believed to be staying at the Copacabana Palace, a luxury Rio de Janeiro hotel used by some FIFA hierarchy at the World Cup, Barucke said.