ATHENS, July 13: Athens Olympic organisers called on Greeks on Tuesday to snap up unsold tickets to avoid greeting the world with empty stadiums when the world's biggest sporting event comes home in a month's time.
With foreigners staying away and millions of seats unsold, Athens chief Games organiser Gianna Angelopoulos appealed to locals to pick up the slack and put on a good show in front of the world's cameras.
"Tickets at fair prices are still available ... this is a once in a lifetime chance for people to experience the Games," Angelopoulos said in an interview with local radio stations.
She told listeners that tickets for heats featuring home grown track heroes Costas Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou were still available for as little as 10 euros. Organisers have denied reports that two-thirds of seats allocated to national Olympic committees and sponsors have been returned but the flood of tickets still available signalled otherwise.
By the end of June officials said only 1.95 million of a total of 5.3 million seats had been sold. Tourism analysts said that security concerns and high prices for flights and accommodation had scared off foreign visitors, prompting a 15 percent slump in year-on-year visitor figures.
Months of campaigning to reassure nations sending athletes to the Greek capital that unprecedented spending would safeguard the August 13-29 Games were hit this weekend by reports of a row with a key hi-tech supplier.
According to reports in daily To Vima the government has delayed payment for a multimillion dollar communications system to a U.S.-led consortium. The group failed to deliver the system which will act as the eyes and ears of security forces by the end of May, citing construction delays at venues. -Agencies
