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FIFA Ordered To Pay Broker $17 Million Compensation For Undelivered Tickets
FIFA – FIFA World Cup Tickets
Promised but not delivered
A Swiss court has ordered FIFA to pay $17 million (excluding interest) in order to compensate a long-time ticketing partner who was promised but never received tickets for World Cup tournaments.
The broker in question is JB Sports Marketing, which is based in Freienbach, Switzerland. According to Swiss news site Tagesanzeiger, which obtained the court documents, JBSM and FIFA entered into an agreement in 2010, which gave JBSM the right to purchase and resell “a substantial number of tickets” for the World Cups in 2010, 2014 and 2018.
While JBSM received the tickets for the 2010 tournament in South Africa, FIFA only partly fulfilled its end of the deal four years later, when Brazil hosted the World Cup. Another four years later, when the tournament moved to Russia, JBSM didn’t receive any tickets at all.
In summer 2016, JBSM sued FIFA in front of a Swiss arbitration court, demanding $17 million plus interest as compensation for not delivering the Brazil tickets. The demand was granted.
FIFA subsequently filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, which got rejected last November. It meant that the arbitration court ruling remained in place, and FIFA had to pay.
It is expected that FIFA will have to pay at least another $20 million for the breach of its agreement with JBSM regarding the 2018 World Cup in Russia. A FIFA spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the association would “defend itself vigorously” against future claims.
It isn’t the first time, FIFA’s dealings with JBSM made headlines. Back in 2015, FIFA fired its general secretary Jérôme Valcke, after documents released by JBSM suggested Valcke had taken a bribe in exchange for supplying JBSM with premium tickets it could sell on.
FIFA has been taking a public stance against ticket touting for years. During the 2018 World Cup in Russia for instance, the association had filed a criminal complaint against Viagogo.
According to media reports, it was JB Sports Marketing’s business model to resell tickets for a profit. Pollstar has sent a request for comment to FIFA.