Man suspected of illegal World Cup ticketing ordered free

The Court of Rio de Janeiro determined hat British businessman Raymond Whelan's be released from jail. He is the director of Match Hospitality, the company that owns exclusive rights to sell ticket and hospitality packages for the 2014 World Cup (covering parking, access to special areas in stadiums, and other services), and is suspected of leading an illegal FIFA World Cup ticketing scheme.

The decision was made in the earliest hours today (July 8) at the request of his lawyers. Whelan had been arrested on Monday afternoon (July 7) at the luxury Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio. Civil Police, Brazil's bureau of investigation, believe he has links with Lamine Fofana, from Algeria, who was arrested last week along with ten Brazilians as a result of Operation Jules Rimet. All of them are suspected of reselling tickets above the price printed on the ticket, which is illegal according to the applicable regulations.

Before Whelan's arrest, Match Hospitality had said it is cooperating with the investigations. Moreover, it claimed it had canceled tickets provided by Fofana's company, Atlanta Sportif, for breach of contract. According to Match, Fofana allegedly resold tickets and blocked packages from three other vendors, whose tickets were found in his possession.

Translated by Mayra Borges