"It makes no sense to implement such an elaborate system if you don't enforce it," he said in an interview with Süddeustche Zeitung, according to Pollstar.

He added that the German paper that foiling scalpers by issuing personalised tickets "worked wonderfully" when Germany staged the 2006 World Cup and he's only doing the same with a live music event.

Wonder if he read this article at ESPN? Scalping booms at World Cup as German controls fall apart.

World Cup organizers have no easy answer for why more than 30,000 Swedes were in Berlin's 72,000-seat Olympic stadium for a match against Paraguay. Each country's federation is given eight percent of a game's tickets, so there should have been 5,700 yellow-clad supporters yelling for Sweden.

Did it work so well in Germany in 2006? Not according to Jamie Trecker of Fox Sports.

TRECKER: What has happened, unfortunately, is that because there was such a demand for tickets — about 30 times the actual number sold — that ticket swappings have certainly been still doing a business. And it became very clear early on that the Germans couldn't check every ticket individually no matter what they wanted to do. In fact, one of FIFA's own people, the president of the Bhotswana soccer federation, got busted for scalping a ticket for the small sum of $380 and was sent home.

RYSSDAL: So, how's it working? You walk up to the stadium and you need a ticket, do you have to give your passport to the scalper and then he jots down your information? How does that swap work?

TRECKER: No, actually, what happened was that the authorities decided that that was going to be too cumbersome. So, basically, if you've got a ticket, you can walk in. From what we've been told, even if the name on the ticket doesn't match what's supposed to be in the databank, they're letting people in anyway. I know there was a case of a couple English fans who bought some tickets, and they did get a random check, and they were let in anyway.

Nor Sean Keener of a World Cup Blog:

The bottom line is, if you got cash, and you want to go to a game, you will find tickets and they are not checking names on tickets – so you can buy whatever you want and be confident that you’ll get in. The tickets I bought said, “Saudi Football Association”. No worries mate.

Yes, and most of these black market tickets at World Cup 2006 in Germany came from the 12 tournament sponsors or from hospitality packages - they were named on the tickets, and they were fuelling the secondary ticket market trying to make extra cash themselves.

" I can not understand that this practice is not banned in Europe to protect the customer," said Sabottka.

Probably because there's it's a little more complex than he realizes - with primary ticketing agencies themselves such as Live Nation Entertainment with secondary ticket platforms - and organizations like the Concert Promoters Association in the UK.

It's all about the money. Always has been, always will be. Guys like Sabottka are basically pissed because they are stuck between a rock and a hard place - raising prices infuriates fans at the primary ticketing stage, and usually never reflects true market value. They are not able to get make enough from the primary ticketing. Do you honestly think they really care about making it afforable for fans? They care about maximizing profit.

The secondary market is a mechanism for normalizing prices. Governments don't want to touch price control on ticketing - it's a luxury not a right to attend an event. Live cultural events and sports are not a commodity like grain, sugar or flour.

Maybe Sabottka should take some note of what Gerd Graus, spokesman for Germany's World Cup committee ironically said in 2006.

"You can't stamp out the black market completely, it's like a rock concert, but we have curbed it," said "Tickets are a success story."