Sports Fans Angered By TV Images Of Empty Seats At London Games

TV images of half-empty stands at the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games have angered sports fans and launched an inquiry to identify who had failed to show up and why.

London organizing committee (LOCOG) chairman Sebastian Coe had threatened to name sponsors that did not fill their seats, but now says the missing spectators were mostly officials from international sports federations, other Olympic officials, their families and friends.

Coe said, "it doesn't obviously appear to be a sponsorship issue at the moment". He said that only eight per cent of allocated tickets went to big corporate sponsors such as Visa and Coca-Cola, and that 75 per cent of the tickets were in the hands of the public.

While the cycling road race and rowing events seats were filled Saturday, Coe said that other events such as basketball, gymnastics, swimming and tennis had empty seats because they had been held open for officials like himself making short visits to venues or wrestling with busy schedules.

He added that London organizers were trying to fill spare sets by inviting local children and teachers to use the spare tickets, selling more tickets, handing tickets to the military, and upgrading other ticket holders.

Organizers said they were already in touch with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to find out who failed to show up and why.

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