2012 Olympics tickets go on sale to public
Tickets for the London 2012 Olympic Games have gone on sale, 500 days before the Opening Ceremony gets under way.
A total of 6.6 million tickets are available to members of the public, who have until April 26 to apply.
Organisers are keen to stress that tickets will not be sold on a first-come first-served basis, so there is no need to panic-buy on the first day.
“We have 2.5 million people saying they want tickets, but there is no hurry,” said 2012 chairman Lord Coe.
“You have no greater chance of getting a ticket on March 15 than say 22 days in to the process.
“We have got every confidence that everybody who wants to come will get a chance.”
One big concern for organisers however, is the threat posed by fraudsters and ticket touts.
The Government recently increased the penalty for those found guilty of ‘touting’ Olympic and Paralympic tickets from £5,000 to £20,000.
The London Metropolitan Police has also set up a task force to root out potential fraudsters, and carried out a series of raids across the capital last week.
“This is a multi-million pound criminal enterprise, and is very lucrative for organised crime,” Detective Chief Inspector Nick Downing told Sky News.
“When someone sets up a fraudulent website, they have no access to tickets and don’t intend to deliver tickets. All they want is your money, and your credit card details and they will use and abuse them at will.
“We want to send a message to these criminals, if you are thinking of coming near ticketing, don’t. We will put all our resources into catching you.”
Anyone interested in applying for tickets can do so safely through the official London 2012 website, www.tickets.london2012.com.
There are 650 sessions across 26 sports to choose from over the course of 17 days.
However applicants are being advised to choose carefully, and only apply for the number of tickets they can afford, since every successful ticket bid will have to be paid for.
Applicants will find out whether or not they have received the tickets of their choice on Friday, June 24.
Tickets for the Paralympic Games will go on sale on Friday, September 9.
Source: Sky News