Briton held in Rio after raid on scalping network
bana Palace Hotel, days after 11 people were rounded up in a raid to dismantle the network.
The case’s lead investigator, Fabio Barucke, said Whelan faces charges of facilitating the distribution of tickets for their illegal sale and criminal conspiracy. If found guilty, he could face four years in prison.
Local media said Whelan is a 64- year- old British citizen. Some 100 tickets were found in his hotel room.
The arrest was made on the eve of the tournament’s first semi- final game between Brazil and Germany in Belo Horizonte early this morning.
Argentina and the Netherlands will face off for the final’s last spot tomorrow morning in Sao Paulo.
Police say the international scalping syndicate sold thousands of tickets worth millions of dollars, going back to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
The scandal is the latest to hit FIFA, which is battling allegations that members accepted bribes from a Qatari football official to secure support for the emirate’s campaign to get the 2022 World Cup finals.
One of Match Hospitality’s shareholders is Swiss- based Infront Sports and Media, headed by Philippe Blatter, the nephew of FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
“Whelan denied negotiating tickets with the Franco- Algerian Mohamadou Lamine Fofana … but we have proof. We have 900 ( intercepted) calls,” Barucke told reporters.