PARIS, June 5: A massive police crackdown against ticket touts at the French Open has led to hundreds of arrests since the tournament began eleven days ago, organisers said on Thursday.

Police in Paris’ chic 16th district which borders the Roland Garros complex have arrested between 25 and 30 touts daily with estimates that some 200 will have received verbal warnings by the time the tournament ends Sunday.

“We have to congratulate the police,” said tournament deputy director Frederic Longuepee, pointing out that the French tennis federation (FFT) have also been active in curbing the lucrative resale of tickets

“The new management put in place by the FFT has taken the problem by the scruff of the neck.”

The black market generates an estimated 17 million euros ($20.2m) during a two-week tournament whose overall revenue is 101.2 million euros ($120m).—AFP