Post date: Jul 29, 2012 2:31:59 PM
London organising committee (LOCOG) Chairman Sebastian Coe, who threatened to name and shame sponsors that did not fill their seats, said missing spectators were mostly officials from international sports federations, other Olympic officials, their families and friends.
"I don't want to see swathes of those seats empty, and that is why we will make sure where we possibly can that we get people into those as and when they are not being used," he said on Sunday (July 29)
Coe said an initial investigation didn't point to the empty seats belonging to corporate sponsors, contradicting what Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt said he thought was to blame.
Olympic organisers scramble to quell a scandal over depressing TV images of half-empty stands at the London Olympics as a government minister says an urgent inquiry has been launched to identify just who has failed to show up, and why.
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, UK (JULY 25, 2012) (REUTERS) - Sports fans from all over Britain who had been charmed by the Olympic publicity offensive, but were let down by a complex ballot system for the 8.8 million tickets, have been outraged by footage of empty seats at key venues including Wimbledon - one of the hottest tickets in world tennis.
Coe, a former Olympic gold medallist on the track, said that only eight percent of allocated tickets went to big corporate sponsors such as Visa and Coca-Cola and that 75 percent of tickets were in the hands of the public.
Basketball, gymnastics, swimming and tennis had rows of empty seats on Saturday (July 28).
Coe said they were vacant because they had been held open for officials like himself making short visits to venues or wrestling with busy schedules.
Organisers said they are now looking to fill seats with military, local school children and teachers or upgrading other ticket holders.
Coe denied the situation was a shambles, when questioned during the press conference.
"I don't think there is single person out there that thinks it is shambolic asking the military, given the way they have stepped up to the plate in the last few weeks, if they are in a rest period, whether they would like to watch sport. I don't think it is shambolic to ask local teachers and students, that we had always planned to do this anyway, whether they want to come in and see some of that sport and this is fine. This is not something that we should be extrapolating dramatically from the first day of an Olympic Games," he said.
But there was a loud public outcry on Sunday.
British Olympic Association Chairman Colin Moynihan told a briefing on Sunday one solution might be a 30-minute rule whereby fans would be allowed to take up vacant seats if spectators were late or did not arrive.
"We need every seat filled. We owe it to the team. We owe it to British sports fans the length and breath of the country to sure that they get the opportunity to come to this unique occasion at the Olympic Games and to back Team GB," he said.
Organisers said they were already in touch with the International Olympic Committee to discover who failed to show up and why.
Two tourists who came to London especially for the Games from Adelaide, Australia were shocked to hear about rows of vacant seats.
"We've come all the way from the other side of the world to be here, so if people aren't using those seats, by all means, let us in, because it's a global event and the globe should be invited," said Pru Buckland.
"Most people don't get to see and be involved in Olympics, so it's not very fair to be honest," said Phoebe Ware.
One man said his wife was cross at images of the North Greenwich Arena with empty seats.
"My wife was trying to get tickets for gymnastics today and we couldn't, so seeing the gymnastics arena yesterday half empty it is a bit disappointing," said Justin Trencher.
A Dutch couple, who couldn't get tickets to see their team play hockey, were also disappointed.
Ron Doktar blamed corporate sponsors not using their allocations.
"I think it's everywhere and every year that people are getting tickets, especially the big bosses just buying the tickets and then do nothing with it," he said.
More vacant seats were reported on Sunday, the second day of the Games, including at the basketball session, which included US versus France.
LOCOG became used to putting up the "sold out" sign within minutes of each tranche of tickets going on sale to the public.
On Saturday some ticket box offices at venues in the park still had queues of people seeking to buy tickets for selected sports.
Australian Olympian triple gold medalist Libby Trickett said it was sad to see empty seats in the high demand Aquatics Centre where she competed on Saturday.
"I hope that they can pack that venue, because it is a brilliant venue and it deserves to be filled to capacity," she said.
LOCOG declined to provide a figure for the number of people in the park on Saturday or how many tickets had been sold but said that 11 million people would attend the Games.
By early June, 7 million of the total 8.8 million Olympic tickets had been sold, and about half of the 2.45 million Paralympic tickets, in a process that began last year.
But the combination of a complex and opaque online ticketing system, which appeared unable to cope with the huge demand and seemed skewed towards those prepared to bid for thousands of pounds worth of tickets, resulted in a wary public.
About a quarter of the 928,000 tickets made available in May failed to sell, including for popular sports such as beach volleyball and boxing.
In early June, LOCOG still had about 550,000 tickets to sell with just weeks to go.
A large chunk of them were so-called contingency tickets which had been held back while logistics such as TV camera positions were resolved.