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TICKETS
to the opening and closing ceremonies as well as in some
of the competitions in the 2008 Beijing Olympics have
been sold out as early as last year.
At least
for Filipinos.
The
BusinessMirror learned from the Philippine Olympic
Committee (POC) that the tickets, only a handful, that
were allocated for the Philippines sold like hotcakes.
And it doesn’t look like the country is getting any
extra.
“There
have been requests for tickets but we could no longer
sell them any because they were sold on a first-come,
first-served basis,” said Gina Calaguas, executive
assistant to POC president Jose Cojuangco Jr.
The
Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (Bocog)
allocated only 20 opening and 40 closing ceremony
tickets as well as 300 for various sports events to the
POC.
The
opening and closing ceremony tickets at the Beijing
Olympic Stadium were pegged at 1,500 to 5,000 RNB, or at
least P60,000 each.
Tickets
for sports events for swimming, basketball, tennis,
table tennis and gymnastics cost $80 each.
Interestingly, the
Philippines
did not get any allocation for the boxing competitions,
where the Philippines is pinning its gold-medal hopes on
only Harry Tańamor.
Fortunately, though, tickets for taekwondo, were
Tshomlee Go and Mary Antoinette Rivero are competing,
were available. But just like the rest, they have been
sold out.
The
POC’s request for 500 to 800 tickets was turned down by
Bocog, according to Calaguas. Ticket allocations, she
explained, were dependent on how many athletes a country
qualifies for the games.
...as
Olympic chief Rogge sets up unit to monitor suspicious
betting during games
By Tariq Panja
Bloomberg
THE
International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set up a unit
to detect suspicious betting on events at this year’s
Beijing Games, IOC president Jacques Rogge said.
The
Beijing-based unit will work closely with Interpol,
Rogge told reporters in Athens, adding that the Olympic
committee had signed contracts with many of the world’s
“bona fide” betting companies to share information.
Rogge
said the credibility of the Games, which begin on August
8, may be threatened by illegal betting. Sports,
including soccer, cricket and tennis have established
anticorruption bodies to investigate betting-related
match-fixing.
“Whenever something suspicious has been found, there
will be a disciplinary commission that will then
eventually interrogate the suspects and bring a report
to the executive board, who will have decide what to
do,” Rogge said.
The
Olympic committee didn’t give names of the betting
companies that will liaise with the unit.
“It is
their interest to work with us and it is our interest to
work with them because these betting companies do indeed
also want a clean sport,” Rogge said.
Rogge
called for a unified approach to sports betting, in
which sports federations, betting companies and
government authorities share intelligence and tackle
unusual activity as early as possible.
Rogge,
who was in
Athens for an IOC executive board meeting, said the Olympic
movement was in better shape than two months ago when he
admitted to a “crisis” following violent protests at the
Olympic torch relay.
Boycott
Politicians had discussed a boycott of the Beijing Games
or the opening ceremony amid the protests against
China’s
crackdown in Tibet, its role in Sudan and human-rights
record.
The
torch relay has progressed trouble-free in
Asia and negotiations had opened between followers of
Tibet’s
spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and Chinese
authorities, Rogge said.
“The
threat of an international boycott has disappeared,”
Rogge said.
The
protests that blighted the torch’s journey may cause the
Olympic committee to scrap future international relays,
Rogge added.
“The
torch is there to carry a message,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it’s been attacked. We’ll consider what
to do in the future.”
The IOC
also ratified a ruling that bans any athlete caught
doping from competing in Olympic Games for four years if
they are suspended for more than six months.
Tickets
in
Hong Kong sells
like hotcakes
OFFICIALS of the Equestrian Company and China Travel
Service (CTS) announced in a recent press briefing that
all 40,000-odd tickets for the equestrian events of the
2008 Olympics allocated to
Hong Kong in the first two ticketing phases have been sold.
“As Hong
Kong is riding high with Olympic equestrian enthusiasm,
the Equestrian Committee [Hong Kong] of the Beijing
Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
[Bocog] has further applied for more tickets for Hong
Kong to promote the equestrian events by engaging more
public participation,” said Lam Woon-kwong, chief
executive officer of the Equestrian Company.
“Now,
about 60,000 ‘Games-Time’ tickets have been allocated to
Hong Kong by Bocog. With more tickets for sale, it will
be more convenient for people wanting to experience
the equestrian events,” he added.
Games-Time tickets are available for sale from June 12.
As in the first two ticketing phases, CTS has been
appointed as the official ticket agent for the
Games-Time tickets for the equestrian events. To
encourage more public participation, the Equestrian
Committee continues to adopt the Bocog policy and set
the ticket prices at affordable levels ranging from
HK$58 to HK$544.
“We are
delighted that
China’s
equestrian team has qualified for all the three
disciplines of the Olympic equestrian events, and
several riders of the Hong Kong equestrian team have
achieved the minimum eligibility standard for jumping,
which is an historic breakthrough for our country,”
Lam added.
He
furthered: “As Hong Kong is a co-host city for the
Beijing Olympic Games, I am sure many of us will want to
be at the competition venues to cheer on our athletes.”
CTS
spokesman Ng Hi-on said interested individuals could
purchase the Games-Time tickets at all CTS branches or
on its website (www.ctshk.com)
on a first-come, first-served basis. |
