The International Olympic Committee (IOC) started an investigation into allegations that Olympic officials from various countries offered to sell tickets for events at the London Olympic Games at highly inflated prices. The officials had legally obtained the tickets as part of their ticket allotment and had offered them for sale at very high prices. For example, tickets were being offered with an asking price of close to $10,000 for high-profile, highdemand events during the summer 2012 Olympics. The official rules of the IOC state that members of the official Olympic committee are not allowed to sell tickets outside their country, are not allowed to ask premium ticket prices, and are not allowed to sell tickets to unauthorized resellers. The Sunday Times newspaper in England presented evidence to the IOC about 27 officials who were willing to sell tickets at inflated prices to undercover reporters who posed as ticket dealers.

Questions

1. Should selling tickets at a higher price than the actual cost be illegal?

2. If the officials stated the money was going to government programs of their respective countries, would that make any difference in the decision from an ethical perspective?

3. Should the real solution be that the IOC charge a higher price for the tickets so that demand will equal supply?