Investigation Shows Fifa ''Big Fish" Involvement in Illegal Ticket Sale Scheme

07/04/2014 - 09h01

The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro will ask permission to check the telephone records of a Fifa employee who maintained contact with the Franco-Algerian Mohamadou Fofana in Brazil. He is accused of leading a ticket scalping ring.

The Prosecutor Marcos Kac said the employee is from Switzerland, Fifa's home country. "He is a big-fish", he said.

"When I reveal his name, Fifa will be undermined" said Kac. He also declared this employee was not called yet because the police are still getting evidence against him.

Fofana and other ten people were arrested on Tuesday (1st), in the operation called Jules Rimet, which investigates the gang that sold tickets for all World Cup matches up to the round of 16.

The police will request the arrest of seven other suspects; among them a Chinese man who works in Sao Paulo.

TICKETS AT THE HQ

Chief Officer Fábio Barucke said Fofana used to visit Copacabana Palace in Rio, whenever he struggled to obtain tickets –the hotel is Fifa's World Cup headquarters. The investigation shows the Algerian got the tickets there.

Fofana's lawyer Alexandre Corrêa said the arrest is arbitrary and denied all suspicions. A mobile phone number and the first name of the alleged Fifa member heard in the authorized taped conversations are the only information the police has so far.

The enquiry reveals Fofana made daily phone calls to a Zurich number, in Switzerland, before the World Cup began.

"He was seeking the most expensive tickets, the hospitality tickets. So we suspect a Match employee might me involved too", said the chief officer.

Match Services is the only company authorized by Fifa to sell tickets and include them in accommodation and transportation packages.

It belongs to the Mexican brothers Enrique and Jayme Byrom, and it has already been chosen by Fifa to sell the 2018 World Cup tickets in Russia.

Scottish journalist Andrew Jennings, who we could call Fifa's number one enemy, reported in his book the existence of a scheme involving Fifa to obtain World Cup tickets and resell them at the black market. He reports having heard from a scalper that "up to 40%" of the tickets that illegally come from Fifa.

Infront Sports & Media, whose chairman is Philippe Blatter, Fifa President's nephew, is one of the shareholders of The Match.

Fifa declared they will analyse the seized tickets to trace its origin and punish the involved. They said Fofana was not duly accredited for the World Cup and did not have access to an official car. Match members were not found to comment on the case.

With RAFAEL REIS, envoy to Rio

Translated by JULIANA CALDERARI

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