Anger over Olympic ticket scramble grows

The organisers of the London Olympics have unveiled the torch that will carry the Olympic flame next year, but even that could not deflect attention away from the row over ticketing after more than half the applicants, around 1 million people, missed out in the first round of the ballot.

Members of the public are now left scrambling to get tickets from overseas vendors or through the second-round ballot, even though most of the cheap tickets to popular events have been snapped up.

Their ire is now being turned on the sponsors and other bodies who have been given free tickets to the events. It is claimed that at the big events around 60 per cent of the seats will be corporate.

The organisers of the Games were keen to show off the torch, which will carry the flame to the Olympic stadium in London. It is a three-sided golden cone with the flame burning through its perforated shell created by east London designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.

However, most other people wanted to talk about the tickets. The Telegraph reports that 13,000 seats have been given to VIPs and says: "Some £1 million of tickets which organisers could have sold to the public were held back for MPs, Whitehall bosses, council leaders and guests."

It claims that one London borough is paying £4,000 for its mayor to attend the opening and closing ceremonies.

And while the likes of Boris Johnson and culture secretary Jeremy Hunt lamented their misfortune after failing to win any tickets in the public ballot, there is no doubt that both will be at some of the set-piece events next year (provided they keep their jobs).

The issue is already becoming a political football and Lib Dem London Assembly member Dee Doocey told the Sun: "With huge numbers disappointed they haven't received any tickets, it's disgraceful so many politicians are set to get them without a ballot - with the bill often picked up by the taxpayer."

Corporate sponsors are also under fire. The Metro points out that anyone without a ticket can buy a package from Thomas Cook, which was given 300,000 tickets in return for its sponsorship deal.

However, it sniffily mentions that the packages don't come any cheaper than £99. Deals for the 100m final cost £3,299 it reveals, while a three-night stay in London including the closing ceremony will set you back £6,499.

The Telegraph also warns its readers that the opportunity to get tickets from other European countries is receding, and that they are now only available through Slovakia, Switzerland and Poland.

Meanwhile, the organisers of the Games have been frantically defending themselves, pointing out that 125,000 tickets are being given to schoolchildren in London and insisting that, overall, 75 per cent of tickets have been made available to the public. ·