By Andrew Warshaw
May 23 – Three weeks before the start of the World Cup in Brazil, FIFA has warned that fans could be barred from stadiums if they are found to have bought tickets from unauthorised sources. FIFA said it would cancel any tickets “discovered as illegally sold or re-sold with the bearers risking not being permitted entry.”
Black market sales are a feature of every major tournament and FIFA’s marketing director Thierry Weil said some fans had already been affected.
“Over the last few weeks we have unfortunately seen more and more people leaving our ticket centers disappointed as they failed to collect their tickets purchased through unofficial websites,” Weil said in a statement.
FIFA said its website was the “only legitimate source” for tickets warning that “unscrupulous ticket touts across the world continue to take advantage of fans eagerly attempting to get their hands on match tickets. Increasingly, companies, websites and individuals are offering tickets to unsuspecting fans through unauthorised resells at exorbitant prices.
“Combating the scourge of unauthorised ticket sale requires a dedicated team effort. Besides FIFA, the fans decide where to purchase their tickets, while authorities at all levels and jurisdictions possess the skills and legal tools to efficiently intervene and punish such activities.
“The sale of tickets is closely supervised, including new techniques used by touts to obtain tickets illegally, to effectively counter them, cancelling tickets and returning them to the system when identified.”
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