FIFA U-17 World Cup Volunteers Black Marketing Tickets

FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 tournament director Javier Ceppi on Sunday condemned the incident of tickets being sold in black market with as many as three volunteers associated with event being arrested by local police.

“I really don’t like such an incident. It hurts from a personal point of view. Nobody has the right to do that,” Ceppi said.

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However, he also urged media not to portray all volunteers in poor light as it is a case of a few rotten eggs.

“Volunteers are blood of our organisation. It doesn’t reflect the LOC as only two or three such bad elements are there. We have taken a strong stand and we take it very seriously. Two or three rotten eggs don’t reflect what our organisation stands for,” Ceppi said.

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On Saturday, police arrested seven persons, including three volunteers of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, from near the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Bidhan Nagar area here, when matches were in progress.

Acting on a tip-off, the Bidhannagar police nabbed all the seven when they were busy selling tickets at a rate much higher than marked price, Bidhan Nagar Police Commissionerate sources said.

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Some of the arrested were also allegedly found in an inebriated state, the sources added.

This is first such instance in Kolkata since the beginning of FIFA U-17 World Cup on October 8 in the city, where arrests were made for black marketing tickets of this international event.