English touts clean up in Tokyo

An Evening Standard reporter has managed to buy a ticket to one of England's World Cup matches from a tout on a Tokyo street for £300 today.

We can reveal the shocking extent of the black market for World Cup tickets despite assurances from host nations Japan and South Korea that this would be the most strictly controlled international tournament ever seen.

We paid £300 - more than four times face value - for the chance to see England's third group match against Nigeria, the week after next.

We bought it from an English tout who assured us he would later be able to obtain tickets to both of England's other group matches, including the highest security fixture of the World Cup opening phase, against Argentina next Friday.

The tout gave his name as Davey and said he came from Birmingham. He approached us in the street in the district of Roppongi. This is the seediest area, a sprawl of nightclubs and strip shows, which has become the main gathering point for England supporters.

Davey, in his thirties, was working with a group who said they could supply tickets for any World Cup game, even the final.

One of his colleagues showed us a bundle of tickets to all three of the Republic of Ireland's group games. Davey and his friends were apparently doing good business, unhindered by police when we met them. One squad car was even parked alongside but the officers appeared oblivious.

Davey quoted £300 for an England v Nigeria ticket, £350 for England v Sweden and £400 for the Argentina game. We asked him to obtain all three and he disappeared to collect them.

He returned shortly afterwards saying that the only one he had then and there was to Nigeria in Osaka on Wednesday week. We paid £300 in Japanese notes, shook hands and took the ticket, which was marked in the name of Staurt (sic) Priddle. It was not clear how it came into the hands of the touts.

The deal was a relative bargain. Two hours later we saw another young English man advertising £450 for an England-Argentina ticket and £400 for both the other England games.

Earlier this week Japan and South Korea admitted their plan to check the identity of every ticketholder was unmanageable and British police have already said they think some hooligan disorder is inevitable. The emergence of a widely available black market in tickets means attempts to segregate rival fans are already in jeopardy.

Earlier this week a Briton was caught at Narita airport carrying 175 tickets. The man had the tickets confiscated and was sent home.