IOC officials, worried by the television images being flashed around the world of athletes competing in near empty stadiums, have told the Athens Games organisers to give tickets away for free if necessary.
At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the then IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch told the Korean organisers to fix the situation and within 24 hours the main stadium was packed every day as school children and soldiers out of uniform were shipped in.
Four years ago in Sydney, free tickets were given away at the start of the Games after IOC complaints that there were not enough people in the stands.
"It is very important for the IOC that when people throughout the world watch the Games on television, they see filled stands. It reinforces the claim that the Olympics is the world's biggest sporting festival.
"Hugh blocks of vacant seats suggests the opposite and the IOC is very concious of its image," said an international marketing expert here for the Games.
At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the then IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch told the Korean organisers to fix the situation and within 24 hours the main stadium was packed every day as school children and soldiers out of uniform were shipped in.
Four years ago in Sydney, free tickets were given away at the start of the Games after IOC complaints that there were not enough people in the stands.
"It is very important for the IOC that when people throughout the world watch the Games on television, they see filled stands. It reinforces the claim that the Olympics is the world's biggest sporting festival.
"Hugh blocks of vacant seats suggests the opposite and the IOC is very concious of its image," said an international marketing expert here for the Games.
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