RIO DE JANEIRO – The son of FIFA senior vice president Julio Grondona has denied claims he illegally sold a World Cup ticket for profit.
Humberto Grondona tells Argentine TV channel TyC he gave a friend the $220 ticket for the Argentina-Switzerland match last Tuesday.
Grondona said in a broadcast telephone interview: "You think with how much I care about my family name I would do such a stupid thing?"
A photograph of the ticket issued to "Humberto Mario Grondona" was posted on the Twitter site of journalist Andres Burgo.
Burgo writes that a friend paid double the original price to see the Round-of-16 match in Sao Paulo.
The claim was made after Rio de Janeiro police arrested 11 people suspected of running a scalping operation.
Police said the suspected source of tickets is a person staying at the Copacabana Palace Hotel used by senior FIFA officials.
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