World Cup tickets go dear on the Internet

The organisers of the World Cup Football tournament in France are investigatingreports that unauthorised dealers are selling tickets for the event on the Internet at huge mark-ups.

The BBC has discovered that at least three American-based companies are offering tickets, at prices ranging up to two-thousand-four-hundred dollars for the final.

They deny taking any bookings.

Tickets for the tournament will not be printed until May and the organisers say they will publish lists of authorised re-sellers next month.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service