Empty seat saga continues as IOC refuses to take responsibility for ticket sales

The International Olympic Committee today rejected British Olympic Association notion for them to take responsibility for selling tickets at Olympic games in the future.

BOA chairman Lord Moynihan this morning urged the IOC to revamp their ticket policy for Brazil 2016 after London 2012 became the latest Olympics to be plagued by empty seats in sold-out events.

The London organisers [Locog] have come under fire over the number of seats left empty, with those who struggled to get tickets especially angry.

Moynihan said: “It’s time to stop the blame game and also to recognise that this is such a major and complex issue. We saw it in Beijing, we saw it in Athens and we saw it in Sydney.

“This is an issue that I hope the IOC will take a lead on. This is an opportunity for the IOC to put in place an overall ticketing policy which can be improved at each Games as it moves forward.

“It is so important for the sporting public of the host city, the host country, to get this right.

However, IOC spokesman Mark Adams hit back, saying: “We’re happy with the way Locog are dealing with it. Our bit is the way that our tickets are given to national Olympic committees, how they sell tickets in other countries as opposed to home countries.

“That has nothing to do with ‘accredited’ areas because they are not ticketed.”

“The idea, which is clearly a good one, is to try to get tickets to as many territories around the world as possible,” he said.

Meanwhile, more than two million spectators have turned out to watch the first three days of London 2012.