Empty Seats in Beijing

Organisers of the Beijing Olympics have admitted that they are using volunteers to fill empty seats at competition venues, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and UK newspaper The Guardian.

Despite claims from the Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG) that all 6.8 million tickets for the Games had been sold, the failure of ticket holders to attend events has meant seats have been available at most venues.

There have also been a large numbers of yellow-shirted 'cheerleaders' present at some events - recruited to create an atmosphere and to prevent the embarrassing spectacle of empty seats appearing on television.

BOCOG Vice-President Wang Wei, has admitted that they had been recruited by venue managers to fill seats, stating that "we are concerned about the fact we do not have full stadia. We think it is due to the weather, the humidity and then the rain, and on the first couple of days there were not many spectators who showed up.

"There are also reserved seats for the Olympic family that have not been taken up, the preliminary rounds are sometimes not attended, and people at other events have tickets for the whole day and do not attend the every event."

Numbers of overseas spectators have been less than expected, tight restrictions on entry visas to China and internal travel permits within China apparently preventing numbers of Beijing Olympics ticket holders from getting to Olympic venues.

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