Plan to stop ticket touts

10 December 2008 - 02:00
By unknown

LONDON - London 2012 organisers plan to crack down on ticket touts and make sure the Games are readily accessible to real sports fans.

LONDON - London 2012 organisers plan to crack down on ticket touts and make sure the Games are readily accessible to real sports fans.

"We will be monitoring activity very closely using the security services," Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London organising committee (LOCOG), told the department of culture, media and sport committee yesterday.

"There are very sophisticated ways of managing it and we will be aggressive about hunting them down."

This year's Beijing Games was marred by empty seats at many venues while illegal ticket sales around the Olympic Park were rife. One raid outside the Bird's Nest Stadium caught more than 200 touts, including foreigners.

Deighton said the ticketing policy would aim to ensure tickets were widely available for sports fans at affordable prices when they go on sale in 2011. - Reuters