FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017: Tournament Director Javier Ceppi Slams Black Marketing of Tickets

The tournament of course has lost its biggest draw card as the home team has been knocked out in Round 1 itself but it has still generated a fair amount of interest, perhaps because of the novelty factor.

New Delhi: Javier Ceppi, the director of the ongoing Under-17 FIFA World Cup 2017 has come out and spoken on the black marketing of tickets of the tournament. But being measured in his statement, Ceppi also said that it is not as if everyone is involved in such an unfair practice. He added that it is rather a case of a select few indulging in this.

The tournament of course has lost its biggest draw card as the home team has been knocked out in Round 1 itself but it has still generated a fair amount of interest, perhaps because of the novelty factor.

“I really don’t like such an incident. It hurts from a personal point of view. Nobody has the right to do that,” Ceppi told mediapersons.

However he also urged media not to portray all volunteers in poor light as it is a case of a few rotten eggs. “Volunteers are blood of our organisation. It doesn’t reflect the LOC as only two or three such bad elements are there. We have taken a strong stand and we take it very seriously. Two or three rotten eggs don’t reflect what our organisation stands for,” Ceppi said.

Police arrested seven persons including three volunteers of the FIFA U-17 World Cup from near the Salt Lake Stadium in Bidhan Nagar area in Kolkata, when matches were in progress. (With PTI inputs)