LOCOG has put extra tickets on sale in a bid to fill the plethora of empty seats at Olympic events.
The day after an inquiry into the missing spectators was promised, 3,000 tickets were put back on sale; so far 600 gymnastics, 700 beach volleyball and 100 swimming tickets have been sold. According to the Guardian, soldiers once again stepped into the breach yesterday to put some bums on seats.
Speculation on why so many seats remained unfilled in the face of the huge demand for tickets is rife — initially, sponsors who failed to show up were blamed but the net of suspicion has now been cast further. LOCOG believes that most of the empty seats on the first day were ones originally intended for the 'Olympic family' (no, we can't say that without reaching for the sick bag either), IOC officials and media, as well as other athletes competing in the Games.
But how should the empty seats be filled? British Olympic Association chairman Lord Moynihan suggested unused seats could be sold to fans in the Olympic Park if they weren't filled within 30 minutes while shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said unused tickets should be given to police officers and their families. Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt confirmed that a system has been introduced whereby people coming out of the stadium handed on their tickets so the seats could be made available to other people.
Meanwhile, if you're still desperate to go to an Olympics event, keep an eye on the Games Ticketmaster website to see what becomes available.
Photo by CdL Creative in the Londonist Flickr pool.