KARACHI: After days facing criticism for swaths of empty seats at venues, organisers at the London Olympics said that 2.1 million people attended events in the first three full days of competition.
The number of daily spectators stood at 856,000 on Saturday, 900,000 on Sunday, and 370,000 on Monday.
Still, there were plenty of vacant seats at some events like 2,000 in a basketball match between Nigeria and Tunisia, 2,500 at a swimming competition, and 300 in a gymnastics event.
The organizers had to mobilize soldiers, teachers and schoolchildren to make the ranks look less deserted.
The gaps have been blamed mostly on officials from sports governing bodies and national Olympic committees not using their allocations of prime seats in plain sight of television cameras and photographers.
Empty seats in privileged spots angered many British people who failed in their applications to get Games tickets in public ballots.
A potential solution was offered Tuesday when the head of Britain's Olympic body called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take more responsibility from future hosts.
The news is contrary to the visual look of hundreds of seats that stand empty during competitions during the events. While the seats are slowly starting to fill, there is no doubt that the question is can the number double or triple once the seating issues are resolved as recycled event tickets are being sold to fill up the empty seats and people are willing to stand in line for the chance to see any Olympic venue live.
The London Olympics will continue until August 12 and close with the Olympic closing ceremony.
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