The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday confirmed that it has asked organisers of Sochi’s 2014 Winter Games to delay their international ticket planning in the wake of the scandal that is currently enveloping the Olympic Movement.

The IOC has described the move as a “purely precautionary” measure stressing that Sochi 2014 is not implicated in the allegations. The IOC has opened an investigation into allegations that National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and official agents were willing to sell thousands of London 2012 tickets on the black market. The UK’s Sunday Times reported that tickets for London 2012 events have been put up for offer for up to 10 times their face value.

The newspaper said that its undercover reporters posed as illegal ticket sellers from the Middle East and caught a number of officials offering up tickets. In response, the IOC on Saturday called an emergency meeting of its executive board after receiving evidence on 27 officials controlling tickets for 54 countries. The IOC employs strict regulations in a bid to combat ticket touting and has said that it would be prepared to revamp the allocation and sale of international Olympic tickets if an inquiry found that the present system is flawed.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the IOC said: “Following the recent Sunday Times allegations that some national Olympic committees and authorised ticket resellers were in breach of 2012 Games ticketing policy, the IOC has convened its Ethics Commission to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the story. During this process we have asked the Sochi organising committee to temporarily delay the planning for its international ticketing program while we review the situation.”

The statement added: “The move is purely precautionary. Sochi 2014 is not affected by the allegations and we continue to work closely with them, as they develop their ticketing program for the Olympic Winter Games.”