RIO DE JANEIRO (AP):

The son of FIFA senior vice- president Julio Grondona has denied claims he illegally sold a World Cup ticket for profit.

Humberto Grondona tells Argentine TV channel TyC he gave a friend the $220 ticket for the Argentina-Switzerland match last Tuesday.

Grondona said in a broadcast telephone interview: "You think with how much I care about my family name I would do such a stupid thing?"

A photograph of the ticket issued to "Humberto Mario Grondona" was posted on the Twitter site of journalist Andres Burgo.

Burgo writes that a friend paid double the original price to see the Round-of-16 match in Sao Paulo.

The claim was made after Rio de Janeiro police arrested 11 people suspected of running a scalping operation.

Police said the suspected source of tickets is a person staying at the Copacabana Palace Hotel used by senior FIFA officials.