(ATR) National Olympic Committees around the world are being queried about how they have handled tickets for the London Olympics.
LOCOG communications chief Jackie Brock-Doyle confirms to Around the Rings that investigations are taking place. However, she says LOCOG is only contacting "those named in The Sunday Times and other media reports."
A June 17 Sunday Times report says 27 Olympic officials and ticketing agents offered to sell London Olympic tickets on the black market for as much as 10 times their face value. Under IOC rules, NOCs must sell their allocation only within their own region.
Two NOC leaders from the Americas, who asked to speak confidentially due to the sensitive nature of discussions and ongoing investigations, confirmed they had been contacted by LOCOG in the past day.
Contrary to some media reports, ATR is told by an IOC spokeswoman that no definitive action has been taken on Sochi 2014 ticket sales.
Sochi 2014 president Dmitry Chernyshenko tells ATR he is a bit perplexed over reports that the ticketing process is suspended.
"Sochi 2014 has not yet launched its tickets sales," he says.
"We have not even allocated any tickets nor communicated to any key clients that they will receive tickets.
"The IOC is working closely with us on our ticketing program and we rely upon their guidance in the process.
"We will announce everything after London Games and only after we get the IOC’s approval," Chernyshenko said.
A spokesperson for the IOC underscored the point by noting that the IOC has not released a statement on Sochi ticket sales, adding: "different options are currently being considered."
The Association of National Olympic Committees issued a statement on Tuesday saying president Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah "fully supports" IOC investigations into allegations of wrongdoing.
"Everybody is innocent until proven guilty; therefore any newspaper or media organisation publishing such allegations should submit the evidence to the IOC Ethics Commission immediately for consideration," the statement said.
"The ANOC President believes there is no scope for such kind of activities within the Olympic Movement and insisted he was confident that the IOC would deal with this effectively."
Among the NOCs singled out in the June 17 Times report were Bosnia, China, Greece, Israel, Lithuania, Malta and Serbia.
Homepage photo from Getty Images.
Written by Ed Hula III.
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