Online auction site ebay have told organisers of the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany they will not prevent people from trading black market tickets over their internet site. The organising committee (OK) asked ebay not to sell World Cup tickets but the auction site pointed out that no-one was breaking the law. OK went to great lengths to ensure World Cup tickets were purchased through the proper channels but just 48 hours after the first sales period black market tickets sufaced on ebay.
In total 2.93 million tickets are on sale and only the first batch of 812,000 tickets have been sold with four more sales periods still to come. But OK and football's governing body FIFA have been inundated with e-mails complaining about the shortage of available tickets and with demand outstripping supply many fans have turned to the black market. Ticket prices range from 35 euros to 600 euros for football's biggest showpiece running from June 9 until July 9 2006.