LONDON: It sounds outrageous but tickets for the England-New Zealand final are being sold for as high as £13,650 (Rs 11.76 lakh) on a secondary ticketing website. There are reports that premium price touched £16,000 (Rs 13.78 lakh). It’s simple logic. Demand is high and it is likely Indian fans too had their hand in this. The ICC is monitoring this but whatever the secondary ticketing websites are doing is legal in England. There are agencies that buy tickets and sell them for exaggerated prices.
This practice is called secondary ticketing and its legality varies from case to case. In football, it’s illegal unless the club authorises an agency. In cricket, it’s legal. However, ICC has made the World Cup an event where this is illegal. Scores of Indians were among the buyers when tickets went on sale. Following India’s defeat, many have sold their tickets.
Speculation is rife that a chunk of them have gone to these companies, which are now doing big business. The ICC has expressed concern. Steve Elworthy, managing director of the WC, was quoted by a daily as saying that steps would be taken to curb this. “We will cancel the accounts and tickets we see being sold on secondary sites.” Saying that ICC may not be able to do much about it. “Lack of legislation in the UK means we are restricted in the preventive action we can take,” Elworthy told the same daily.