Ray Whelan arrested at in Rio de janeiro
Ray Whelan, the chief executive of a Fifa partner company was arrested by Brazilian police in Rio de janeiro on Monday as part of investigations into the illegal sale of World Cup tickets.
The British national was held at a Rio de Janeiro hotel where officials from the world’s football governing body were also staying.
Last week, police held 11 people and broke up an international gang accused of illegally reselling tickets, including some originally allocated to players, while some of the tickets were also sold to foreign tourists.
Police say the gang earned as much as $90m (£52m) per tournament and could have already operated at four World Cups.
As part of the inquiry, police said last week they had identified the first name of an alleged Fifa official from telephone calls.
world cup tickets
Fabio Barucke, the investigator in charge of the case, said the official had clearance to Fifa offices, stadiums and other administrative areas where he would have access to match tickets.
In a statement, Fifa said it “continues to fully collaborate with the local authorities and will provide any details requested to assist with this ongoing investigation”.
“Fifa wants to reiterate as mentioned at various occasions its firm stance against any form of violation of the criminal law and the ticketing regulations, and is fully supporting the security authorities in our joint efforts to clamp down on any unauthorised ticket sales.”
Among items seized during the arrests last week were 100 tickets, computers, US dollars, mobile phones and documents.
Those arrested could face charges of money laundering, criminal association and illegally selling tickets.
Author:Shadrack Andenga Odinga/source