By Paul Nicholson
February 12 – Ray Whelan, the British director accused of selling VIP World Cup tickets at inflated prices in Brazil, has had all charges against him dropped by the Brazilian justice authorities. While the prosecutor has 15 days to appeal against the decision, it is not expected that there will be a challenge.
Whelan and his advisors were unavailable for comment at this stage, preferring to stay out of the spotlight while the appeal period is still open. But Whelan and his employers MATCH Services, FIFA’s official accommodation partner, will feel vindicated the charges have been dropped and he’s a free man.
The decision to close the case was taken by the 6th Criminal Chamber of the Tribunal de Justiça in Rio de Janeiro yesterday, which dismissed all charges against Whelan. According to the decision there was no evidence to support the accusations brought forward by the prosecution.
Central to the charges against Whelan were an alleged 900 phone conversations he had with Mohamadou Lamine Fofana, an alleged ticket tout operating in Brazil during the World Cup. However, an expert witness report established that the real number of calls was much lower at only 28 and mostly of short duration but making up a total call time of 17 minutes and 24 seconds.
MATCH director Jaime Byrom had maintained throughout the case that Whelan was innocent and was only fulfilling the company’s obligations under the contract signed with FIFA.
Whelan was arrested in June last year and held in Rio de Janeiro’s infamous Bangu prison before being released on bail in August, and subsequently being allowed to travel internationally on condition he would return for trial.
Assuming no appeal is raised by the Brazilian prosecutors serious questions will likely be asked of their investigation and their sources of information. The price of tickets was always a contentious issue at the World Cup with the Brazilian public’s anger fuelled by grandstanding politicians like former footballer Romario, who is now a senator. However, the false information and press reporting lead to the imprisonment of an innocent individual to score what now looks like a public relations motivated goal.
This is the second time MATCH has been cleared of charges by Brazilian authorities. Last year the company had all charges that it was leveraging “abusive” prices in the hotel market with tickets for matches dismissed by CADE, Brazil’s anti-competition authority.
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