Whelan was first arrested by police on Monday (July 7) as part of the ongoing operation into a scam allegedly operating out of the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, where FIFA President Sepp Blatter and his senior colleagues are staying.

The Briton was released on bail the following morning.

But in a remarkable development this evening, investigator Fabio Barucke claimed that Whelan left the hotel through a service exit an hour before police arrived to arrest him for a second time.

"He's now considered a fugitive," Barucke told Associated Press.

"We have security camera images of him exiting the hotel through a service door."

Barucke added that police had recorded around 900 calls between Whelan and Algerian ticket broker Lamine Fofana since the World Cup began on June 12, and that virtually all of them referred to the selling of tickets.

But Whelan has protested his innocence and this evening Jaimie Byrom, executive chairman of Match Services and Match Hospitality, reiterated that he had done nothing and that the police investigation was based on flawed interpretation of the FIFA rules. 

The World Cup ticket scandal is allegedly focused around the Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro where senior FIFA officials are staying ©AFP/Getty Images






This comes after Whelan announced earlier today that he voluntarily handed back his accreditation for the tournament.

Doing this was reportedly a means to reaffirm his "total commitment to safeguard the interests of the company Match Services, as well as FIFA and the FIFA World Cup", it was claimed by the company.

Whelan claimed he committed no wrongdoing and Match, the company appointed by FIFA as the worldwide exclusive rights holder of its hospitality programme, insist the arrest was "arbitrary and illegal".

"The leakage of fragments of Ray's wiretapped private conversations with the police is also illegal," they said in a statement.

"The 18th Precinct Rio Police are making assumptions without a proper investigation and with minimal understanding of how the ticket and hospitality package selling system really works."

After adding that the police "have not attempted to investigate the facts and have consequently proceeded to misrepresent the relevance of the findings", it added that they are left with "no option but to respond to the allegations from the police through this statement as opposed to the customary and appropriate legal process".

The scandal has marked a departure from a generally trouble-free FIFA World Cup in Brazil ©Getty Images



Match has been involved with FIFA since 1986 and has the exclusive contract to provide hospitality packages until 2023, as well as other services, including accommodation.

Given these long-standing links, if it is proven the Zurich-based company is involved, it would be a major embarrassment for FIFA.

Match, however, disputed many of the other findings in its statement. 

In particular, they claim recordings of mobile phone conversations between Whelan and Fofana, who police allege was a senior figure within the ticket touting ring, only showed Whelan legitimately negotiating the sale of hospitality packages.

They admitted offering the packages for cash was "highly unusual'" but "permitted under the various terms and conditions" and that the transactions never actually took place.

It was added that despite their best efforts, the police authorities continue to refuse to provide Match details of the tickets that were seized.

But, based on the company's internal records, Match have surmised that "the 83 tickets were for past matches, retained as mementoes, or for personal use by senior management of Match and their families and friends".

Byrom's statement this evening repeated many of these points, while adding that police had ignored a distinction between admission Tickets and Hospitality Packages that a "cursory review" of the FIFA website would have made clear. 

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