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London 2012 organisers promised an investigation after thousands of empty seats were visible yesterday at some of the most popular Olympic venues.
Rows of vacant spots were seen at swimming heats, volleyball, gymnastics and dressage events on the opening day of the Games, with “no shows” by Olympic officials, athletes and members of the media blamed.
Where are all these apparently ‘sold out’ tickets going to? Sponsors? It’s a sad joke.
Empty seats are seen in the stands during the women’s football. Photo: Reuters
BLAMING TICKET “MISDIRECTION” INSTEAD OF FEAR!
POLICE – BLACKHEATH AT OLYMPICS
Lord Coe, the chairman of Locog, had pledged to address the issue, which had plagued the Beijing Olympics, by having “flexible” accredited seating zones. This was meant to allow for smaller accredited areas for heats, taking place in the morning, which would then be expanded for evening sessions when the demand for finals tickets was highest.
Organisers appear to have abandoned that plan, citing the logistical and security problems involved in repeatedly changing the layout of venues. “We have reduced the size of the accredited areas compared with previous Games but it is too difficult to make the size of that area flexible,” a spokesman said.
Organisers also believed some officials and sponsors slept in late yesterday to recover from Friday’s opening ceremony, which finished well after midnight.
They are investigating which bodies ( Why Not “People” ) did not use the seats and issuing warnings that tickets would be redistributed if the problem persists.
“We believe the empty seats are in accredited seating areas, and we are in the process of finding out who should have been in the seats and why they weren’t there,” the spokesman said.
One fan, Diana Hill, contacted the BBC, which is Britain’s Olympic broadcaster, to complain about the empty seats.