Sao Paulo: The Brazil government says it will investigate whether FIFA's official accommodation agency was involved in "cartel" practices that may lead to hotel price hikes during the 2014 World Cup.
The government says a committee recently created to monitor accommodation rates during the World Cup will check whether the actions by MATCH Services "can be characterized as cartel."
The government announced Thursday that the committee will analyze the number of hotel reservations made by MATCH in the 12 World Cup host cities to check if they affect market prices.
Government officials will meet with the airline industry next week to make sure there are no excessive price hikes for travel during next year's tournament.
