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Common Wealth Games

, 2010

 
 
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> Common Wealth Games, 2010
Sharmila-Sweet
post Oct 7 2010, 10:29 AM
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Tickets sold out but venues deserted
Wed, Oct 6 02:33 PM


While the nineteenth edition of the Commonwealth Games kicked off on a 'spectacular' note, the follow up hasn't been that impressive. This time, it's the people of the host city who have been left high and dry after they were unable to get tickets for the sporting venues.

In comparison to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium which was buzzing with over 60,000 spectators at the opening ceremony on Sunday evening, the audience response at the competition venues thereafter has been embarrassingly tepid.

On the face of it, the empty stands could be blamed on lack of enthusiasm on part of Delhiites. But Delhiites couldn't disagree more.

Several spectators who managed a ticket to different venues on Tuesday said that they did so with much difficulty. "Online booking, which is one of the most convenient ways to get a ticket, does not seem to be functioning properly. Every time I tried to get a ticket for the wrestling (for Tuesday), the website kept showing some error or the other," said Maithali Gupta (18), who has come to Delhi from Hyderabad to watch the Games specially. She finally bought her ticket at the venue.

A top Indian shooter, who has an event on Wednesday, is finding it hard to organise a ticket for his mother, who has flown in to Delhi to watch her son perform at the Karni Singh shooting range.

"There are no tickets available at the venue. What they are saying here is that tickets are available online," said another shooter.

When Mail Today checked the website, tickets for Wednesday for the shooting range had been sold out. "It's complicated. Outside they tell us the tickets have been sold out. Inside the venues, many of the seats are lying vacant. Then where are the tickets," questioned another shooter.

Commonwealth Games Federation President Michael Fennell pointed out that low spectator turnout at the venues was a cause of concern. At some events, the crowd was outnumbered by the teams and security personnel. "We are working with the OC on how to fill the venues. Both athletes and the organisers want the venues to be full," Fennell said.

CWG OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi assured that steps are being taken to bring in more people to the stadia.

"We are working on it. We are planning to bring in schoolchildren and even those from the poorer families to watch the matches. I am sure the problem would now be managing the crowd." On Tuesday, for instance, at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, the venues for wrestling and cycling, looked lifeless with occupancy standing at less than half during most part of the day. When MAIL TODAY did a spot check at the KD Jadhav Wrestling stadium around 4.40 pm, there were barely a thousand people in the stands, which can accommodate 6,932 people.

In fact the number of the media persons and volunteers almost equalled that of the wrestlers.

This, ironically, was the response of Delhiites when there was an Indian contestant in each of the three final rounds for the gold medal in Greco- Roman style of wrestling.

Though at the gymnastics venue, the number of spectators seemed more encouraging, it still wasn't enough to fill up half of the capacity of the stadium.

The occupancy, in fact, stood at about 40 per cent just before the final round of the day was about to kick off.



Reproduced From Mail Today. Copyright 2010. MTNPL. All rights reserved.


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