Viagogo has been order to pay €80,000 (£69,600/$88,900) in damages to the French Tennis Federation (FFT) by a Paris court for illicitly reselling tickets for the Roland-Garros tournament.
The Paris Court of Appeals upheld an interim order issued by the Paris Crown Court on April 6, 2018, which recognised the FFT as the only institution to have the right to sell tickets for its events, and more particularly the French Open grand slam tournament at Roland-Garros.
The controversial ticketing resale site had claimed tickets it had listed for the French Open were only available to fans outside of France. However, the court said that it had not placed strong enough blocking measures to prevent tickets being issued in France.
Viagogo has been ordered to pay €20,000 more than the original sentence in 2016, on top of a €15,000 fine.
Jean-François Vilotte, director general of the FFT, said: “A few weeks before the opening of the general public ticket office for the 2020 edition of Roland-Garros, this decision will make it possible to fight again against the illegal resale of tickets on the Viagogo website.
“It demonstrates the FFT’s desire to take a firm stance against the illegal sale of tickets for the events it organises, such as the Roland-Garros tournament and the Rolex Paris Masters.”
Image: Thierry Caro
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