The vice chairman of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Luis Segura, on Tuesday admitted selling World Cup tickets, but denied scalping.
His comments came amid a scandal over the dismantling in Brazil of a scalping network blamed for fraud worth tens of millions of dollars.
Brazil is questioning 11 suspects in connection with the case, including a British ticketing executive who is a director of FIFA partner Match Services.
Referring to passing on FIFA tickets allocated to the AFA, Segura told Del Plata radio station: “I made a serious mistake and I regret it.”
He explained he had passed on a number of tickets which FIFA allocates to national federations.
“What I did from my modest position was sell [at face value] to people who were traveling to Brazil without tickets and we tried to solve this problem for the people” concerned, Segura said.
FIFA stipulates that ticket holders may not sell on tickets or transfer them to another person without written consent from world soccer’s governing body.
Asked for further information on the sale of the tickets, Segura said the recipients of the tickets concerned where “people known” to the AFA.
“I can’t come out and announce I had tickets, so we tried to sell those which were left over to known people,” he said. “About 400 people were asking for tickets — some nicely and others with insults, [but] if you have the chance to resolve 100 people’s problems, then you do so.”
AFA ticketing administration head Emiliano Vazquez also denied wrongdoing.
“Nobody has made a complaint. A video in Brazil shows AFA people coming in and charging for a ticket, and this is logical because the FIFA tickets have a cost,” Vazquez said.
He added that 175 tickets were left over from the AFA’s allocation for the final and the association sold them “to recoup the money,” but he insisted that none was sold for above face value.
About 100,000 Argentines traveled to Rio de Janeiro for the final — most without tickets.
On July 4, Humberto Grondona, son of FIFA vice president and AFA president Julio Grondona, denied any AFA involvement in the scalping network.
Speaking in Brazil, Humberto Grondona said he had given “some” tickets to a friend who wanted to attend the tournament.
“He in turn gave tickets to another friend. What did they do with the tickets? That I don’t know,” he said.
Pictures emerged during the event of a ticket for Argentina’s match with Switzerland bearing the name “Humberto Mario Grondona.” The ticket ended up in the hands of a friend of a journalist, who paid double the original price.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
RSS