Black market ticket sales
June 17, 2012
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Saturday opened an investigation into a media report that officials and agents had sold tickets for the upcoming summer games in London on the black market.
Britain's Sunday Times published evidence against some 27 officials responsible for the tickets of 54 countries. National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and Authorized Ticket Resellers (ATRs) allegedly broke the rules by buying and selling tickets outside their territories.
The NOCs and ATRs also reportedly sold tickets at inflated prices and made sales to unauthorized vendors. Several thousand tickets to events such as the men's 100 meter final had been put up for sale, according to the newspaper.
The IOC called an extraordinary meeting of its executive committee on Saturday in response to the newspaper report and tasked its Ethics Commission to look into the evidence.
"The IOC takes these allegations very seriously. Should any irregularities be proven, the organization will deal with those involved in an appropriate manner," the organization said in a release.
"The NOCs are autonomous organizations but if any of the cases are confirmed the IOC will not hesitate to impose the strongest sanctions."
slk/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)