By David Owen at the Marriott CasaMagna in Puerto Vallarta

There will be hefty fines for anyone who resells Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic tickets, it has been announced ©Rio 2016Rio 2016 ticket-holders who resell tickets in contravention of terms and conditions face fines of 100 times the face value of each one sold.


This emerged here during a presentation by the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee at the General Assembly of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO).

An official later explained that ticketholders unable to attend the event in question can return tickets to the seller for re-marketing through official channels, or they can give them away.

If, however, they resell them to someone not officially authorised to deal in Olympic tickets, they leave themselves open to the possibility of this swingeing fine.

The official said that the fine - which could result in a penalty of BRL R$4,000 (£1,050/$1,700/€1,300) for someone re-selling one of the cheapest Rio 2016 tickets, priced at BRL R$40 (£10.50/$17/€13), through unofficial channels - was introduced in 2014.

The fine for the illicit sale of two of the costliest Opening Ceremony tickets, priced at BRL R$4,600 (£1,110/$1,977/€1,400) each, would be not far short of BRL R$1 million (£375,000/$249,000/€318,000).

Another Rio 2016 official later emphasised that the fine would be applicable specifically to authorised ticket resellers and National Olympic Committees (NOCs), as part of their ticket sales agreement.

There were several scandals involving ticketing scams during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, including one involving FIFA partner Match Hospitality ©Getty ImagesThere were several scandals involving ticketing scams during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, including one involving FIFA partner Match Hospitality ©Getty Images



News of the penalty comes just days before the launch on Thursday (January 15) of the Rio 2016 Olympic ticket programme.

CTS Eventim, a German-based ticket selling company, was appointed Ticketing Services Provider for both the Olympics and Paralympics last September.

More information on the ticket selling process can be found on the Rio 2016 website, here. 

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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