RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian authorities investigated on Wednesday whether members of the Brazilian, Argentine and Spanish football federations were involved in the illegal sale of World Cup tickets after police dismantled a scalping gang.
The brother and agent of Brazilian football star Ronaldinho, Roberto de Assis Moreira, will be questioned in the case, though he is not under investigation, said Marcos Kac, the Rio de Janeiro prosecutor in charge of the investigation.
Police arrested 11 people on Tuesday accused of selling tickets that may have been obtained through a contact at Fifa, the world football governing body, said authorities.
The tickets were the type handed out by Fifa to sponsors, football federations, players and non-governmental organisations.
“Ronaldinho’s brother told some of his friends that they could buy tickets through this system,” said Kac. “If we see that he has any relationship with this group, if we see that he collaborated in any way, then he would be involved. For now, he isn’t.”
The ticket ring was led by an Algerian suspect identified as Mohamadou Lamine Fofana, who had been under investigation for three months, he said.
Nine of the ticket ring’s suspects were detained in Rio, including Lamine, and two in Sao Paulo.
“The group charged a lot of money for each game,” said Kac. “It was 1,000 tickets per game, with a basic price of €1,000.”
He further said that Lamine obtained tickets that Fifa distributed to football federations, players, operators and companies.
“There are suspicions that he had contacts with somebody at Fifa, but we are investigating.”
Some of the tickets seized were handouts for the football federations of Brazil, Argentina and Spain.
“This is being investigated,” said the prosecutor.
The crackdown led to the closure of three travel agencies suspected of being involved in illegal game ticket sales.
Authorities have arrested dozens of illegal ticket sellers outside stadiums around the country since the tournament started on June 12.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 4th, 2014.
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