Govt probes World Cup ticket deals

China's commerce authorities are investigating a sports ticket agent for possible violation of anti-monopoly laws after consumers complained of having to buy expensive add-ons for 2014 FIFA World Cup tickets.

Beijing-based Shankai Sports International is the only FIFA-authorized sales agent in China for the World Cup, to be held in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July.

A ticket-inclusive hospitality package will include a match ticket, food and beverages and multinational hostesses, according to the FIFA website.

For the June 16 Germany-Portugal match, a single match package is sold at $1,150 by FIFA, while the same match will cost at least 37,200 yuan ($5,973.4) through Shankai.

But Shankai's package also includes a local four or five-star hotel for one night, a brief city tour and return domestic flights from Rio de Janeiro to the match in Salvador.

The high prices upset many sports fans in China when they failed to gain match tickets through the random draw on the FIFA website, China Central Television (CCTV) reported Tuesday. Many criticized the agent for bundling sales.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce has started to look into such deals, CCTV said.

Chen Feng, vice general manager of Shankai, said that they do not have a monopoly on tickets, as fans can easily apply online on FIFA's website.

"We added accommodation services to the official package for the convenience of our clients. Unlike in Beijing, there will be a shortage of hotel rooms during peak seasons and you will see a sharp rise in prices at the time," said Chen.

Chen said that 80 percent of their clients have bought a "complete" package, with prices varying from 30,000 to 200,000 yuan. "But if clients insist on cutting out our accommodation service, they can also choose the official package at the original price," Chen noted, adding FIFA did not allocate any service-free tickets to them.

Beijing-based Hejun Consulting, exclusive sales agent for the 2010 World Cup, sold about 800 individual match tickets. An anonymous employee with the company told the Global Times that accommodation was also included in packages they sold.

Li Weimin, secretary-general of the Consumer Protection Committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association, said that agents for such major sports event must not change the price or the original products.

"The agent has clearly infringed upon the rights of customers," Li noted. "It's the customers' right to choose whether to stay in a selected hotel or not. The catalog only provides luxury hotels, which is still a kind of bundling-sale."

"It's not all random selection. There is also first-come-first-served. You just need to be quick. I booked mine right when the tickets were open for sales [on the FIFA site]," said Zhang Yuyang, a football fan who paid $165 for a ticket in Beijing.

Brazil expects 600,000 overseas fans to attend the World Cup, as well as 6 million Brazilians. Brazil's sports minister Aldo Rebelo promised that inflated prices for flights and hotel rooms would begin to fall, the Guardian reported Monday.

But some rooms in Brazilian cities are selling for up to six times more than normal for the time of year, The Telegraph found, with rates in Rio de Janeiro having increased by 200-300 percent.

Most tickets in the current round of sales have sold, with a last-minute ticketing phase to open on April 15.