Rip-off artists tarnish Rugby World Cup image

First it was T-shirts, then fake tickets started to surface on the internet.

Now a new rip-off involving the 2011 Rugby World Cup has emerged.

Dodgy operators are selling corporate packages, complete with tickets to big games and all the usual food and booze to go with it.

Understandably, the rouge traders have former Black Cap and ex-boss of Auckland and Wellington rugby, David White, hot under the collar.

He is the local point man for Rugby Travel and Hospitality, the British company that, for a massive fee, bought the rights to sell all travel and corporate packages.

The fee paid to the International Rugby Board helps fund the game in areas like Argentina and the Pacific Islands.

White would not say how big it is. But, suffice to say, it's in the order of tens of millions, as travel and hospitality generates tournament revenue second only to broadcasting.

Protecting that investment no doubt has fuelled White's concern and prompted him to place an advert in today's Sunday Star-Times advising corporates to buy packages off only those authorised to sell them.

A handful have, out of ignorance rather than opportunism, failed to do so.

White did not want to name names, protecting some from embarrassing themselves as they paid in excess of what they would have, had they bought them through legitimate sources.

"Our approach is at this stage to educate companies thinking about buying packages," he said.

But if his warning goes unheeded, one gets the feeling he won't be in any mood to save blushes, even though the fake packages look convincingly real.

The Star-Times was able to find a handful of examples within minutes of initiating a search on the internet.

They're professional and slickly presented, offering tickets and the usual hospitality associated with these big events.

The catch can be found in what they don't mention; most of the hosting will occur in some instances miles away from the ground. Punters, some unsuspecting, will be bused to venues, handed general admission tickets (instead of corporate seats) often sourced through nefarious means, such as employing a bunch of students to buy them online.

All this, of course, is of little consequence to average rugby fans concerned about scraping together enough cash and then sourcing tickets through legitimate means.

But New Zealand's reputation is at stake during the tournament.

If safeguards fail to stop rip-offs then other sports will think twice about staging large events here.

The last thing we need now is rip-off merchants and ambush marketers ruining the cup.

- © Fairfax NZ News