Probe into an $8,000 Rugby Sevens ticket

Rugby officials have launched a scalping investigation after a ticket for next year's Rugby World Cup Sevens was offered yesterday on the internet for $8,000 - eight times the face value - even before tickets officially go on sale to the public at 3pm today at Hong Kong Stadium.

The tournament organisers warned that anyone caught scalping or touting tickets could face police action, and warned ticket-buyers not to re-sell them above the face value of $1,000.

'We were informed today that an individual had offered to sell a ticket for $8,000 on a website for Asian expatriates. We are trying to verify where this ticket has come from and we will take appropriate action,' said Allan Payne, executive director of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU).

'We will be taking measures to record the sale of every ticket so that we will know which category any tickets that are touted or scalped come from. We have put in place a system which reveals the source of each ticket.'

The $8,000 ticket remains on sale on the website, pending the outcome of the HKRFU investigation. Although the public sale only begins today, tickets have already gone on sale overseas and have been made available to HKRFU clubs.

Mr Payne stressed that tickets could not be re-sold for profit. 'They can't be re-sold, or there can be no commercial gain.'