Authorities are currently investigating a series of CCTV and social media photos that showed supposedly wheelchair-bound Brazil fans who were caught standing during last week's opening game between the host nation's team and Croatia, The Telegraph said. The group of supporters are currently being investigated for ticket fraud.
Police believed that some of the fans who have purchased the hard-to-get-by tickets on the black market tried to pass them off as legitimate purchases by coming into matches supposedly disabled and in wheelchairs. The news report said that many of the concession tickets reserved for the disabled had fallen into unscrupulous individuals. Moreover, there have been instances wherein young adults have been seating in seats that were meant to be for pensioners.
FIFA has developed a series of services specially designed for disabled football fans for them to be able to enjoy the full World Cup experience this year. According to the world soccer body, around 1% of the total number of tickets for the matches are made available to disabled fans, and that a disabled spectator can opt for requesting a complimentary ticket for his companion to assist him or her during a match.
FIFA President Joseph Blatter has been quoted as saying about the organization's reasons for the special services, "Football is a universal sport and it must be accessible to everyone. We are therefore delighted to be offering these services for disabled fans."
While FIFA's services are laudable, it is sad to know that several fans, in their hopes of being able to watch the matches of their favorite teams, abuse such services originally meant to accommodate the disabled. The availability of the tickets for some of the hottest matches in the World Cup no doubt have spurred people to turn into small-time criminals.
The Telegraph said that selling a ticket for more than its face value is considered a crime, and that the guilty would be facing a maximum of four years in jail.
