; ; ;

VANCOUVER — A British Columbia non-profit that supports people with spinal injuries was forced to cancel a raffle for a pair of World Cup tickets after receiving a nine-page letter from FIFA's lawyers, accusing it of trademark infringement and ticket rule violations.

Chris McBride, executive director of Spinal Cord Injury BC, said a staff member purchased two tickets on behalf of the organization through regular channels for the June 21 game between New Zealand and Egypt at Vancouver's BC Place, with a face value of about $500 each.

"We just thought this would be a fun way to not only make a little bit of money … but also as a fun way for our supporter base to have low-barrier access to tickets to a game that they probably wouldn't be able to afford otherwise," McBride said.

He estimates they'd raised about $2,300 in raffle tickets when the letter from the Toronto-based law firm Lipkus Law, representing soccer's world governing body, arrived on May 11 informing the charity that it was violating trademark rules and ticketing policy.

"We trust that we can rely on your support in respecting FIFA's ticketing rights," the letter says.

"We are writing to ensure that you are fully aware of the legal implications of conducting marketing, advertising and/or other activities facilitating the unauthorized promotion of tickets without the required authorization of FIFA."

McBride said his organization cancelled the raffle and refunded money to anyone who had bought tickets.

"We...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi2AFBVV95cUxOUmpybjhFNms4VUdudldwLTI4...