Sports Minister Hugh Robertson expects corporate ticket row over London 2012
Friday 08 June 2012
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The Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said he expects he and the London 2012 Organising Committee will "get some stick" when it is revealed just how many of the top tickets have gone to corporate sponsors rather than on sale to the public.
The breakdown will not be revealed "probably not until after the Games", he said. Olympic organisers have promised 75 per cent of the tickets will be exclusively for the British public, but have refused to answer questions on how many tickets to the most popular events, such as athletics and cycling, have been made available.
Hundreds of thousands of football tickets, likely to remain unsold, will be counted as part of the 75 per cent. The Games' 55 sponsors, including McDonalds, Coca-Cola and Dow Chemical, have received about 500,000 tickets, from the total of 8.8 million.
Mr Robertson said: "I hope the stick we get is balanced by an appreciation that sponsors have contributed over £700m to the games that would otherwise have come out of the public purse." The Chair of the London Assembly's Sport Committee, Baron-ess Doocey, has told Olympics' chief Lord Coe, "Locog's ongoing secrecy over Olympic tickets is shameful".
Tickets for a further 96 sessions will be available on the London 2012 website on Friday morning, including athletics, swimming, volleyball, table tennis and boxing – from £20 to £720.
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