UK legislation has been extended to outlaw the unauthorised resale of any World Cup tickets. Previously it was an offence to resell tickets for matches involving England, but this now extends to all 64 games at this summer's World Cup in Germany.
EBay was involved in the consultation process that led to the law being implemented under the Criminal Justice Act and, following a meeting with Home Office officials last week, had offered to introduce its own preventative measures from yesterday.
However, UK law does not cover websites based overseas, such as eBay.com, which was also selling World Cup tickets yesterday (Monday). And in a challenge to the new law and to FIFA's demands, eBay has not stopped the sale of tickets placed on the site by customers based abroad or on their websites registered overseas.
The company has, however, said the sale of World Cup tickets on eBay.co.uk or by UK registered sellers is not permitted under eBay's policies.
FIFA has already written to eBay reminding them of the need to comply with the legislation fully.
It is understood FIFA's lawyers, the London-based firm Hammonds, will now write to them again to challenge them on their decision to allow the sale of tickets by customers outside the UK.
