China probe illegal sale of Olympic tickets

IOC called an emergency meeting of its executive board and launched an investigation on Friday.

China has ordered a probe into the allegations of illegal sale of tickets for London Olympics following revelations in the British media.

Song Luzeng,Secretary General of the Chinese Olympic Committee,said the COC learnt the allegations by British media over the black market ticket sale for the London Olympic Games,especially the part involving an authorised ticket reseller (ATR).

“The COC took an immediate action. We demanded a thorough and sincere internal probe to be conducted by the ATR for China,” Song said.

“We will keep a close eye on the issue and report the updated information to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in time,” he told Xinhua news agency.

Dozens of officials and ticket agents for the London Games,including the one authorised for China Caissa Touristic — have been caught selling thousands of top tickets on black market for up to 10 times their actual price,’The Sunday Times’ had reported.

According to a two-month undercover investigation by the British newspaper,it found “widespread corruption among officials and agents controlling the tickets” for at least 54 countries.

IOC called an emergency meeting of its executive board and launched an investigation on Friday.

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According to the report,China’s official ticket agency had used a United Kingdom front company to buy dozens of “the best seats in the stadiums” to “top events meant for the British public”.

They agreed to sell tickets to the ‘Sunday Times’ reporters,who posed as Middle Eastern ticket touts,for up to 6,000 British pounds (about USD 9,400) each,according to the report.

“So we will re-discuss and we will be writing to the players once again that the government is in total agreement with the AITA and is fully supportive that AITA will have to do the selection and it is will be for the AITA to decide the best possible team in the national interest,” insisted Khanna.

Khanna also said the AITA wanted to take into consideration Paes’ sentiments.

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“And it is also felt that sentiments of Leander Paes have to be kept in mind,” said Khanna.

Bhupathi,who wants to be paired with Rohan Bopanna for the London Games,had approached the Ministry for help after AITA decided to send just one team comprising Paes and Bhupathi to London.

Even Bopanna had refused to team up with Paes citing his commitment to Bhupathi with whom he joined hands this season.

But Maken’s stand today has come as a blow to both Bhupathi and Bopanna’s hopes.

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Khanna though declined to comment when asked what would be AITA’s next option if both Bhupathi and Bopanna stick to their stand of not pairing with Paes for the Olympics.