HOTEL rooms for this summer’s World Cup in Brazil are being sold at inflated prices on organiser Fifa’s own website.

ROOM RISE: England's Joe Hart playing in Brazil last year

Research by the Daily Star Sunday found room rates have been hiked by as much as 63% compared to those booked direct with the hotel or on travel ­websites.

Prices for accommodation have ­already rocketed as hotel bosses seek to cash in on the month-long football tournament which starts on June 12.

But our findings show it will cost you a lot more to book through Fifa’s official website hotels.Fifa.com via its partner Match Services AG.

A double room during the first week of the tournament at the four-star Mercure Sao Paulo Jardins ­Hotel in Sao Paulo, where England play Uruguay in their second Group D game on June 19, costs £958 booked direct with the hotel. But it rises to £1,492 on the Fifa site – a 56% hike.

The biggest mark-up we could find was at the four-star Phenicia Bittar Hotel in the capital Brasilia, which will host a quarter-final and the third place play-off.

A week during June in a double room at the hotel will cost £1,826 if booked through Fifa, compared to £1,120 through another travel site – a difference of 63%.

Many of the rooms being sold through the Fifa site are not ­available on other travel sites.

TRIP: England will travel to Sao Paulo to face Uruguay

Match Services, based in Zurich, Switzerland, is under investigation by the Brazilian government as part of an inquiry into possible price-fixing practices by the ­country’s hotel industry in setting high rates during the World Cup.

It said it was “fully cooperating” with the Brazilian authorities ­during its inquiry.

It added only Fifa and competing teams were required to book ­accommodation through Match and the service was available to fans on an “optional ­basis”.

In a statement the company said: “The rates secured by Match ­Services from its partner hotels and those it offers to its customers are in the vast majority of cases ­reasonable and compare well to rates available outside of the Fifa World Cup.

“With a small number of exceptions where Match Services has had to accept higher than normal rates, all other participating hotels have accepted and agreed to embrace Fifa’s and Match’s policy to provide reasonably acceptable rates.”