FIFA to cooperate with Brazilian authorities to stop black marketing

Rio de Janeiro, July 5 (IANS/EFE) FIFA has announced it will fully cooperate with the local authorities to stop World Cup tickets being sold on the black market.

FIFA marketing director Thierry Weil issued a statement Friday saying they fully support local authorities in their investigations in to illegal sales of the World Cup tickets, reports EFE.

FIFA’s ticketing experts will analyse the seized tickets in order to validate them as well as to assist the authorities in identifying the source of the tickets and track down the channels from where the illegal tickets have come. Weil ensured that any violations will be sanctioned accordingly.

FIFA also wants to confirm whether Mohamadou Lamine Fofana, the Algerian who is the suspected ringleader of this black marketing stint, had any accreditation for the tournament or not.

Elsewhere, Brazilian authorities closed three tourism companies for participating in black marketing of tickets and shut down the bank accounts of the accused.