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World Cup ticket affair suspect considered a fugitive
Ray Whelan, head of Fifa partner Match Hospitality, has evaded arrest in Brazil over alleged illegal World Cup ticket sales
Rio de Janeiro's Policemen arrest Ray Whelan (L), chief executive of a Swiss hospitality and ticketing company 'Match Hospitality' in connection with an ongoing investigation called 'Operation Jules Rimet' over VIP ticket scalping at the World Cup at Copacabana Palace hotel, venue of FIFA during the World Cup EPA/Ramires Ferreira
John Bagratuni and Helmut Reuter, dpa
A Match Services official is considered a fugitive after police failed to re-arrest him on Thursday in connection with a World Cup ticket affair, local police confirmed.
Police said they were looking for the suspect, Match Services senior executive Raymond Whelan of Britain.
News reports said that CCTV footage showed Whelan leave the seafront Copacabana Palace Hotel through a side entrance before police arrived to take him into custody.
"Teams from the 18 Precinct, coordinated by Fabio Barucke, were at the Copacabana Palace Hotel on Thursday afternoon, to comply with an arrest warrant issued by the court against Raymond Whelan," a police statement said.
According to (Barucke), the English fled out the back door of the hotel and is now considered a fugitive."
News reports quoted Whelan's lawyer, Fernando Fernandes, as saying that the 64-year-old would turn himself in to police, but without giving a special timeframe.
Brazilian police have arrested 11 people in connection with the probe and seized computers, mobile phones, other equipment and tickets. Ten of them, plus Whelan, were to be taken or remanded in custody Thursday by a court order. The other, said to be a witness ready to cooperate with the authorities, is not in custody.
The suspects are charged with corruption, illegal ticket sales, money laundering and forming a criminal organisation.
Whelan is said to be a key suspect in a case in which World Cup tickets were sold on illegally above face value, a crime in Brazil and also against the rules of the governing body FIFA.
He was arrested Monday but released the next day.
Police said they seized 82 World Cup tickets, a computer, a cell phone and documents in Whelan's suite in the hotel which is also the home of the FIFA top brass during the World Cup which ends Sunday.
Match Services is responsible for sales to the general public, another company, Match Hospitality, for corporate clients and sponsors.
FIFA said last week that 141 tickets have been scanned, with roughly half each originally sold by match Services and Match Hospitality.
FIFA has said it is cooperating with the Brazilian authorities, who believe that the affair could also affect FIFA and Brazilian football officials.
Some 2 million reais (910,000 dollars) have reportedly been generated per game through the illegal sales.
Whelan and Match have protested their innocence in the case.
Match Services on Wednesday criticized both the arrest and the release of information to the media, and accused Brazilian police of having "minimal understanding of how the ticket and hospitality package selling system really works."
