World Cup organisers are prepared to take legal action against secondary ticketing sites, with some tickets being priced at over £12,000. Tickets for the England v Australia game at Lord’s are being sold on Viagogo for 104 times their face value.
“We are working closely with lawyers to identify secondary ticket sites which infringe our terms and conditions,” said a World Cup spokesperson. “We are taking appropriate enforcement action against them as required.”
The World Cup takes place in England and Wales from 30 May to 14 July. It is not illegal in the UK to resell tickets to international cricket matches, although the Cricket World Cup’s own ticketing website states that no ticket should be offered for public sale.
A Viagogo statement read: “Viagogo does not set ticket prices, sellers set their own prices, which may be above or below the original face value. Where demand is high and tickets are limited, prices increase.”
Tickets for all World Cup matches are banded into four categories – bronze, silver, gold and platinum. For the sold-out England-Australia match on 25 June, a vendor on Viagogo is marketing two silver tickets with a face value of £115 for £12,029 each.
There are a number of other matches involving England, and also India, where prices of £12,029 perticket are being asked on Viagogo. The Viagogo statement continued: “Viagogo is a marketplace and doesn’t buy or sell tickets. Viagogo provides a platform for third party sellers to sell tickets to event goers.
“Event organisers sometimes make claims that they will deny entry to people who have purchased resold tickets. These types of entry restrictions are highly unfair and, in our view, unenforceable and illegal.” Separately it has been alleged that Viagogo has previously approached supporters’ group the Barmy Army with a request to sell some of its allocation for England matches outside of the World Cup, a claim Viagogo has not denied.
When asked about the claim, the company replied: “All tickets on Viagogo are valid and it is perfectly legal to resell a ticket or give it to someone else if you want to.”
A total of 48 World Cup matches will take place in England and Wales, with 36 listed as being sold out of all non-hospitality tickets on the tournament’s ticketing website. The same site does have an official resale section, but no tickets are currently listed. (BBC Sport)