Premier League writes to Chelsea over Todd Boehly's ticket resale site
The Premier League has written to Chelsea to seek clarification over the club's position on ticket resales in light of Todd Boehly's ownership of the third-party ticketing website Vivid Seats.
In March Chelsea supporters called on the Premier League to take action against Boehly, the club's chairman, for his ownership of the platform, which resells match tickets for thousands of pounds above their face value.
Richard Masters, the Premier League's chief executive, confirmed during a meeting with the Football Supporters' Association that the league had written to Chelsea in light of the controversy.
Boehly, who is part of the BlueCo consortium that owns Chelsea, is also a director of and investor in Vivid Seats, an American website that allows users based outside the UK to buy and sell tickets to concerts and sporting events.
The Chelsea Supporters' Trust says Boehly has yet to respond to 'multiple opportunities' to address fans' concerns
ROBBIE JAY BARRATT – AMA/GETTY IMAGES
Vivid Seats was found to be selling Chelsea tickets at inflated prices, with seats for the club's home fixture against the champions Liverpool listed for up to £20,000. The platform is listed by the Premier League as an 'unauthorised ticket website', with the league urging fans to 'exercise extreme caution' when dealing with the site. It cannot be used by fans in Britain because it is illegal to resell tickets in this way in the UK.
The Chelsea Supporters' Trust (CST) contacted the Premier League in March about the matter, while it also wrote to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy. 'As a director of Chelsea FC and part-owner, Mr Boehly's connection with Vivid Seats is totally inappropriate and significantly undermines the efforts of Chelsea FC, the Premier League, and the Metropolitan police to combat ticket touting,' the letter said. 'The CST firmly believes that it is now time for the Premier League to act and investigate.'
The CST said it had given Boehly 'multiple opportunities' to address the fans' concerns but that neither the 51-year-old American nor his representatives had responded.
Masters noted that the Premier League would respond to the CST after it had finished consultations with Chelsea.
Chelsea and the Premier League have been approached for comment.
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