Ray Whelan, a director at the firm Match Hospitality, was detained at Rio de Janeiro's luxurious Copacabana Palace Hotel, a police spokesman told AFP, days after 11 people were rounded up in a raid to dismantle the network.
Local media said Whelan is British but police were not immediately able to confirm that.
Police say the international scalping syndicate sold thousands of tickets worth millions of dollars, going back to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
A French-Algerian suspect, Mohamadou Lamine Fofana, was initially thought to be responsible for the scam after he was among 11 people arrested last week in Rio and Sao Paulo.
But suspicions moved toward an individual at Match Hospitality, the official World Cup ticket agency, which sells deluxe packages that include private suites at stadiums and gourmet catering.
Authorities intercepted phone calls between Fofana and Whelan, according to the newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo.
One of Match's shareholders is Swiss-based Infront Sports and Media, headed by Philippe Blatter, the nephew of FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
Match Hospitality said earlier that it had canceled the tickets bought by Fofana's company, Atlanta Sportif, for the semi-finals and the final.
The hospitality firm warned that it would cancel the remaining tickets of three other companies whose names appeared in tickets seized by police unless they cooperate with the probe.
The companies were identified as Reliance Industries Limited, Jet Set Sports and Pamodzi Sports, but Match did not give more details about them.
Reliance Industries bought 304 packages for 19 matches worth $1.2 million, including access to a private suite for all games in Rio, Sao Paolo and Belo Horizonte. Match Hospitality said 59 tickets seized last week had the company's name on them.
One ticket was imprinted with the name Jet Set Sports, which purchased 40 packages for two games worth $108,250. The package had been allocated to an individual who resides in Australia, Match Hospitality said, without naming the person.
Another ticket had the name Pamodzi, which secured 350 packages for 18 games -- including private suites and business seats - worth more than $1.2 million.
Match Hospitality, whose packages include private suites, gourmet catering and gifts, said earlier Monday that none of its staff members had been implicated in the case so far.
Share
