RIO DE JANEIRO: Only 35 per cent of the tickets initially available for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics have been allocated to Brazilian fans after the first phase of sales ended.

Rio organisers say almost 1.6 million tickets — of a total of about 4.5 million — have been awa­rd­ed to fans after the first random draw. Brazilian residents made 5.2m requests for tickets but most were duplicated for the most popular sessions.

Only 121 of the Games’ 694 sessions have sold out, including the opening and closing ceremonies, the men’s football final and both men’s and women’s volleyball finals.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2015

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