Ready, Steady… Go Reclaim Your Seats
BY CONOR MCPARLAND
After the initial scramble for London 2012 tickets, the row over ticket availability has erupted once again following the frustrating images of empty seats at ‘sold out’ Olympic venues.
The vacant spaces at many major events portrayed a contrasting scene to the opening ceremony which saw the Olympic Stadium packed to its full capacity. It was not only the lower priced stands which were left unoccupied, unused tickets for the hottest seats in town left spectators wondering.
The televised pictures of the world’s sporting superstars competing in front of barren cr
owds sparked mass fury among Olympic fans. Images of soldiers, teachers and students claiming abandoned seats graced worldwide screens, despite thousands of fans missing out.
Governing bodies and other international sporting committees appear to have failed to make use of their cooperate tickets. Major sponsors of the Games such as McDonalds, EDF, British Airways, Coca-Cola and Atos denied they were responsible for failing to take up their seats.
The ticket scandal has brought much anger upon London 2012 Chairman, Lord Coe who claimed venues were “stuffed”, only to admit that more could be done for sporting fans to access the tickets.
The London Organising Committee of the Olympics (Locog), are now selling reclaimed tickets daily through an online box office. It is believed that around 57,000 tickets will become available each day with many Olympic athletic tickets to be released last minute.
It remains to be seen whether Locog’s solution will satisfy the multitude of disappointed Olympic enthusiasts. Thousands will be adopting their refresh button as their new best friend in order to remain in the hunt for a golden ticket.
