Football World Cup: India's euphoria remains short lived, match tickets to RIL end in black market

RIO DE JANEIRO: India has finally got a World Cup connection. Unfortunately, it's got little to do with the Beautiful Game or anything that'll make desi football enthusiasts proud. Match tickets issued to Reliance Industries Limited have ended up on the black market.

Reliance had bought 304 packages for 19 matches worth $1.2 million, including access to a private suite for all games in Rio, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte. Out of this, 59 tickets were in the haul.

"We at Reliance always comply with all rules and regulations and are unaware of any such incident. We are investigating the same," the firm said in a statement to AFP.

Ray Whelan, the English director of Match Hospitality, the official World Cup ticket agency, was released from police custody a day after being arrested for alleged involvement in selling match tickets on the black market.

Reliance identified the company through which it had bought the tickets as Octagon. It added that it was unable to divulge further details about them, such as where they were located. "We have appointed them [Octagon] as our agents to buy some hospitality packages. They have been handling the tickets and the packages," Reliance said.

Octagon is a global sports, entertainment, lifestyle marketing and talent representation agency with its headquarters in Connecticut, United States. Octagon’s Mumbai-based operations in India are headed by Prashant Singh, who is currently in Brazil.

On its part, Match Hospitality warned that it would cancel all the tickets of companies whose names appeared in tickets seized by police unless they cooperate with the probe. The companies have been identified as Reliance Industries Limited, Jet Set Sports and Pamodzi Sports.