Fiona Hamilton, London Correspondent & , : {} The road to Olympic hosting glory is often littered with complaints, and none so loud as a disgruntled fan who cannot get a ticket.
Londons 2012 organising committee moved yesterday to avoid the empty seats seen in Beijing by placing affordability and accessibility at the centre of its ticketing strategy.
Fans were promised tickets at 20, a crackdown on touts and a Wimbledon-style returns policy to ensure that the maximum number of fans pass through the Olympic Park.
Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), announced an extra 800,000 tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, taking the total to 10 million. We know the British public will want to know theyre in for a great chance of getting a ticket. The good news is they are, he said.
Related LinksCyber criminals target football fansBMW to supply official cars for 2012 OlympicsHigh-speed Olympic train service launchedMultimediaGRAPHIC: what price a ticket?Fans were urged to register their interest at www.tickets.london2012.com. More than 10,000 logged on within an hour and more than 80,000 people had registered by the close of business.
Registered fans are not guaranteed a ticket but the website will provide a shortcut when tickets go on sale, via a ballot system, next spring. The website will be marketed only in Britain, but it will be available internationally, raising concerns that European citizens will take a large percentage of tickets. However, Mr Deighton said that most foreign visitors would buy tickets through their national sporting organisations. All our marketing efforts will be solely on the UK, he said. It is certainly our expectation that the majority [of ballot tickets] will absolutely stay in the UK.
He said that LOCOG would take legal action to ensure Britains share through talks with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Office of Fair Trading.
But the ticketing strategy still lacks detail, including the price of individual sports. Early indications suggest an average price of about 44, but LOCOG said that cheaper tickets would be available at 20 for some sports.
Dee Doocey, chairwoman of the London Assemblys economic development, culture, sport and tourism committee, said that more detail was needed to ensure that Britons would get a fair deal. It was sold to Londoners as an opportunity to inspire a younger generation. That wont happen without affordable tickets, she said. We want stadiums filled with cheering fans, not people who happen to be there because of the position they happen to hold.
Of the 10 million tickets available at the Games, 75 per cent will be allocated to the public. The remaining tickets will be distributed to National Olympic Committees (13 per cent), sponsors (8 per cent) and hospitality and package providers (4 per cent).
The number of tickets on general sale compares favourably with other sporting events. At the 2006 World Cup, Fifas international ballot was allocated just over 35 per cent. Sponsors received more than 15 per cent.
However, some bogus websites are advertising ticket sales and inviting fans to register for key events such as the opening and closing ceremonies, expected to feature key British athletes such as Christine Ohuruogu.
It was not clear what controls would be put in place to prevent touting, such as limiting the number of tickets that individuals can buy.
Mr Deighton indicated a crackdown on touts. He said that LOCOG would operate its own ticket exchange programme and monitor websites to ensure that official partners were the only ones selling tickets: We want to develop consciences about ticketing so that everyone knows you cant buy before the spring of 2011. If anyone tries to sell you a ticket [before then], tell us or the police. Were be working with the authorities to try and squash them [touts]. Our lawyers are active. The best way is to get tickets officially into the hands of people who most want them. If you get them to fans, they will keep them because they want to go.
This exercise [the registration website] will have them thinking about what they want to go to so we can get them into hands of people who are absolutely going to come. That dries up the source of supply to touting markets.
A problem at past Games has been empty seats. Organisers hope a Wimbledon-style returns policy, where tickets can be resold when the original occupants leave their seats, will help.
Mr Deighton said: As you leave Wimbledon youre given the opportunity to have your ticket zapped, which sends a message to the ticket office so that it can be resold. Were looking at where we can apply that.
LOCOG will release more information about pricing and availability later this year, when the competition schedules and all venues are confirmed. Some events, such as the road cycling and the marathon, will be free.
Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, said: Watching an Olympic event in your home country is a once in a lifetime experience. Thats why its critical that as many tickets as possible end up in the hands of the general public.
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