Olympics Notebook - Ticket sales remain sluggish
08/10/2004
ATHENS, Greece -- The Greek Premier and head of the International Olympic Committee say Greece is ready for the games to begin. Now, they just want more people to show up.
"I call upon the Greek public to come to the venues and to cheer for their teams and to cheer for the other teams," IOC president Jacques Rogge said Monday after a tour of the main Olympic complex with chief organizer Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki.
Premier Costas Caramanlis also urged Greeks to fill stadiums.
"Every Greek should have a live memory of this celebration and be present at this historic occasion," Caramanlis said in a televised address carried live on state-run and private stations.
"The time has come to cheer for the athletes."
Preparations by Athens dragged after the IOC awarded the games to Greece in 1997. IOC officials worried when construction ran behind schedule.
But Rogge was decidedly more optimistic this week, noting that that the IOC "has always expressed its confidence that our Greek friends would complete the preparations in due time."
The delays are being blamed for sluggish ticket sales, with just slightly less than half of the 5.3 million tickets still unsold. Organizers hope to sell 3.4 million before Friday’s opening ceremony, but last week, only 284,000 were purchased.
08/10/2004
ATHENS, Greece -- The Greek Premier and head of the International Olympic Committee say Greece is ready for the games to begin. Now, they just want more people to show up.
"I call upon the Greek public to come to the venues and to cheer for their teams and to cheer for the other teams," IOC president Jacques Rogge said Monday after a tour of the main Olympic complex with chief organizer Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki.
Premier Costas Caramanlis also urged Greeks to fill stadiums.
"Every Greek should have a live memory of this celebration and be present at this historic occasion," Caramanlis said in a televised address carried live on state-run and private stations.
"The time has come to cheer for the athletes."
Preparations by Athens dragged after the IOC awarded the games to Greece in 1997. IOC officials worried when construction ran behind schedule.
But Rogge was decidedly more optimistic this week, noting that that the IOC "has always expressed its confidence that our Greek friends would complete the preparations in due time."
The delays are being blamed for sluggish ticket sales, with just slightly less than half of the 5.3 million tickets still unsold. Organizers hope to sell 3.4 million before Friday’s opening ceremony, but last week, only 284,000 were purchased.