By Tom Degun in London

July 8 - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) are confident that London 2012 will not suffer the problems that has overshadowed the FIFA World Cup in South Africa with empty seats in stadiums that are supposed to be sold-out, they claimed here today.



Gilbert Felli, the IOC's Executive Director for the Olympics, said he was happy with London 2012’s ticketing plans following the visit of the IOC Coordination Commission.

He said: "The IOC has faced the same difficulties as FIFA have at the World Cup in recent Games when tickets are sold but still remain empty.

"A lot of creative work has been done towards the goal of full stadia and we should be much better off here in London than we have been at past Games."

The Beijing Olympics also suffered from the same problem two years ago, leading to officials to bus in Chinese spectators to plug the gaps. 

Paul Deighton, the chief executive of London 2012, admitted that ticketing remains one of the biggest issues for his organisation with the £440 million ($675 million) target amounting to two thirds of the money he must still raise to fund the Games.

Eight million tickets will be sold plus another two million for the Paralympics.

Deighton said “It [ticketing] is right up there in our top priorities.

"We are staging some of the world's premier events and it's clearly unacceptable to have tranches of empty seats in the venues - and not just hospitality seats.

"I’m very happy with how our ticketing strategy is evolving.

"It’s very important that people in this country believe they can get a ticket and be at the Games.

"We want to have full stadia and we want to make the atmosphere totally electric.

"“We’ve always said that tickets should be affordable.

"When we announce it this autumn, I don’t think you will be disappointed with how we will price our tickets."

IOC Coordination Commission chairman Denis Oswald claimed he was pleased with London 2012’s progress and revealed that the complex scheduling of Games is in nearing completion.

Oswald said: "We have 26 sports and many different events and we must have a balanced programme for viewers, spectators and also all the logistic aspects behind the scenes.

"We also have to take into account that athletes take part in more than one event and need time to recover.

"It’s very complex but we are close to a final solution - 95 percent of the work is done.

"Every decision has to be approved by the relevant international federation and it takes some time but we are confident in the coming weeks the programme will be finalised."

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