The International Olympic Committee (IOC) called an emergency meeting Saturday via conference call of its ruling executive board following allegations that Olympic officials and agents controlling tickets for 54 countries breached sales regulations.
The allegations will be investigated by the IOC’s ethics commission said a senior IOC source. The IOC says it will also consider a complete shake-up of how Olympic tickets are distributed among member countries.
The Sunday Times reports that in an undercover investigation they found 27 officials and agents representing 54 countries who were willing to breach rules on selling tickets.
The newspaper alleges that one from Serbia offered 1,500 tickets for 80,000 pounds in cash, and China’s official ticket agency allegedly agreed to sell the best seats in the stadiums for up to 6,000 pounds each.
The newspaper reports that Spyros Capralos, President of Greece’s Olympic committee, is also alleged to have breached regulations.
An IOC statement said, “the International Olympic Committee has moved quickly to deal with allegations that some National Olympic Committees (NOC) and Authorised Ticket Resellers (ATR) have broken rules relating to the sale of Olympic tickets.
“After claims that several NOCs and ATRs were reportedly willing to break the rules by offering to buy or sell tickets outside their territory, sell tickets at inflated prices, or sell tickets to unauthorized resellers, the IOC has ordered an immediate inquiry and referred the allegations to its independent ethics commission.
“On being informed of the allegations, the IOC immediately convened an extraordinary meeting of its executive board and determined a number of actions – the convening of the ethics commission and asking for any evidence of wrongdoing to be provided to the commission without delay.
“The IOC takes these allegations very seriously and has immediately taken the first steps to investigate. Should any irregularities be proven, the organization will deal with those involved in an appropriate manner”.
