Jeremy Hunt reveals new plan to bring In crowds and pack venues

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt recently revealed a new plan that the Locog is considering...

14:47 01 August 2012

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt recently revealed a new plan that the Locog is considering to ensure that all Olympics venues will be packed for all future events. 

 

The secretary warned spectators to take their seats within 30 minutes before the start of an event; otherwise they could lose their tickets. The Locog is still ‘looking at doing’ this, so the rule is not yet in place. 

 

“We’re looking at whether we are able to do it, but we are hosting this event under a contractual arrangement that we have with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and sports federations and so we do have to respect what we’ve agreed to contractually in order to get London to host the games.”

 

The Locog has taken two other measures to fill in the gaps in the crowds though. Earlier, they began drafting in troops, teachers, and schoolchildren just to help pack the venues. Now, however, they are hoping the seats will be packed by fans. The Locog has reportedly taken around 3,000 Olympics tickets from international sporting federations and putting them back on sale for the public consumption. 

 

“What we’re saying to the IOC and to the international sports federations is if you’re not going to use them, could we have as many possible back because of course we’ve got lots of members of the public who would dearly love to go.”

 

The new plan was formulated after fans expressed their outrage at seeing countless rows of empty seats at the cross country competition held in Greenwich Park despite the fact that they had been unable to obtain tickets for the said event. 

 

“We want to be completely upfront with the public: this is a negotiation. We don’t have a right to demand these back.”