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.

The scandal is the latest to hit FIFA, which is already battling allegations that members accepted bribes from a Qatari soccer official to secure support for the emirate's campaign to get the 2022 World Cup finals.

Brazilian police on Tuesday arrested 11 people accused of selling tickets that may have been obtained through a contact at soccer's governing body. The tickets are normally reserved for sponsors, soccer federations, players and non-government organizations.

A police investigation, dubbed "Operation Jules Rimet" after the former French FIFA president, was launched without FIFA's knowledge, the police chief said.

Following the arrests, "we are now calling for FIFA's assistance to help us identify this FIFA person, a foreigner staying in the Copacabana Palace hotel," Barucke said.

"We have some elements about the person and FIFA's help will be indispensable in order to have his full name," Barucke said.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter, under fierce pressure over the Qatar claims and other alleged corruption at his organization, said he was unaware of the case, according to Estadao newspaper's website.

"I am not aware of anything. I don't handle tickets. I handle politics," Blatter was quoted as saying.

A FIFA spokeswoman said earlier the world body was waiting for more information on the inquiry before commenting.

Initially, police thought that Mohamadou Lamine Fofana, a Franco-Algerian based in Dubai, was the central figure, Barucke said.

"But after his arrest we realized there was someone above him from FIFA with an intermediary at Match Hospitality," he said.

"We want to identify the last link in the chain, from the ticket touts at the stadiums, right through to those who are above Lamine Fofana and who passed the tickets on to him," said Barucke.

Brazilian authorities said on Wednesday they suspected members of the Brazilian, Argentine and Spanish soccer federations were involved in the scheme.

Marcos Kac, the Rio de Janeiro investigating magistrate in charge of the inquiry, said on Wednesday that at least 1,000 tickets per game were involved with a basic price of 1,000 euros ($1,365).

(China Daily 07/05/2014 page15)