The Organising Committee for the soccer World Cup in France is urgently investigating a number of claims that official tickets are being sold at huge mark-ups on the Internet.

Three web sites, based in the United States, appear to be offering tickets priced at up to $2,450 (£1,500) each.

Isabelle Delaye, World Cup Ticket Manager: "We have to inform the public" (Dur: 0' 28")

Under French law, such massive price hikes may constitute touting and are illegal. The companies, in Atlanta, Tampa and San Francisco, should not have access to the tickets.

One of the companies offers tickets for every single match, ranging from $175 (£107) for Paraguay vs Bulgaria to $250 (£153) for England vs Tunisia and $1,200 (£735) for the final.

It has denied taking any bookings for the tickets and said it was not an authorised reseller.

The competition organisers say they do not yet have a full list of authorised ticket resellers from all national football federations.

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