The Rugby Football Union (RFU), the national governing body of the game in England, has once again come down hard on clubs, organisations and individuals found to be selling tickets on the secondary market.

RFU on Tuesday announced sanctions on 17 clubs, organisations, schools and individuals for misuse of tickets, including their sale on auction websites such as eBay, Seatwave and Viagogo.

The sanctions were decided on an individual basis and judged against the severity of the case. The RFU appears to have come down harder on schools and individuals, with most losing their right to a ticket allocation for the coming season altogether. Clubs allocations were reduced by 10 – 25 per cent.

Clubs and other ticket recipients are allowed to sell onto a number of operators which RFU has licensed. These include Mike Burton Corporate Hospitality Ltd, Events International and Eventmasters.

The new sanctions bring the total number handed out in the past three years to 228, ranging from a suspended 10 per cent reduction in entitlement to a four year total ticket ban.

RFU Business Operations Director Paul Vaughan said:

"The fact that we have now imposed over 220 sanctions shows our commitment to reducing the number of tickets reaching the black market. We remain determined to take action against those who breach our ticketing terms and conditions by reselling them to unauthorised operators or even advertising tickets for resale."