Soccer: Fifa executive's firm nabs Cup tickets

One of Fifa's most senior executives could profit by more than £10 million ($25 million) from World Cup ticket sales.

In a move that has caused outrage in Trinidad & Tobago the Caribbean nation's entire ticket allocation has been allocated to a travel agency owned by Jack Warner, a Fifa vice-president who is also the president of Concacaf and a special adviser to the Trinidad & Tobago FA.

Warner, 62, a former history lecturer turned property developer, is a director of the agency Simpaul Travel Services, as is his wife, Maureen, and sons, Daryan and Darryl. The company is not selling individual match tickets, but rather "travel packages" that include tickets and accommodation but, bizarrely, not travel, either to Germany, or between venues, which costs extra.

A company sales executive, Natasha Simmons, confirmed that basic packages, excluding flights but including 12 nights in a hotel in Germany and seats for Trinidad & Tobago's three group games - against England, Paraguay and Sweden - cost £2720.

The face value of the three tickets combined is a maximum of £200.

Simpaul's other costs are estimated to be around £820 per package for hotels, plus 4940 for a "supporters' kit" that comprises a shirt, a wristband, a flag, a travel bag, a whistle, a poster and a fridge magnet.

Simpaul stands to make around £1660 profit per package. The company will not confirm how many tickets it has, but local estimates suggest between 6500 and 8000 a game. It is estimated that Simpaul could make from £10.8 million to £13.3 million profit if it sells every ticket as part of a package.

Fifa has appointed Ernst & Young "to monitor and evaluate the overall ticketing project for the 2006 World Cup".

- INDEPENDENT