discouraging prices, unavailable events, impossible combinations … The first phase of the ticket office of the Olympic Games in Paris provoked in certain misunderstandings and anger.
by Marie Slavicek and Jean-Philippe Lefief
“Let’s go very strongly. In a few days, people rushed in places,” said Tony Estanguet, the president of the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (COJOP), on RTL , February 22. Two weeks after the launch of the ticket office on February 15, about fifteen disciplines – including fencing, judo and triathlon – already display.
On paper, everything seems to work wonderfully. In fact, it seriously gets stuck to the surroundings: the lucky elected officials quickly disillusioned in the face of the prices of tickets, deemed “exorbitant” or even “prohibitive”, and before the complexity of the procedure implemented by Paris 2024. Almost all of the Some 350 people who answered the call for testimonies of the world share their “immense disappointment”. The “baskets” composed by potential buyers easily exceed 600 euros for a couple and 1,500 euros for a family of four.
“The important thing is to participate, but at what price?” Lands up with bitter Guillaume, paraphrasing the famous quote attributed to Pierre de Coubertin, the renovator of the Olympic Games. The 36-year-old teacher, who lives in Seine-et-Marne, gave up in front of the amounts to acquit to obtain the precious sesames:
“I will be entitled to the crowd, traffic jams and crowded transport, but not to games. I find it unfair.”
For this first phase of sale, three million tickets (out of the ten million planned in total) are at stake. The lucky ones who were drawn can buy it until March 15 (unless the three million Tickets find takers by then) and only by packs (prizes of three tickets minimum, thirty maximum). The other seven million will be sold to retail from May 11, again after a draw. 2>
The first arrivals won the cheapest places
The organizers recall that in total, one million tickets at 24 euros will be on sale, and that half of the tickets will not exceed 50 euros. Except that, out of this million tickets at 24 euros, half is not directly accessible to the general public: it was reserved by the State and the local communities of the games of the Games for solidarity tickets (under 16 years , volunteers in sport, people with disabilities, etc.). In addition, given that draws have the possibility of buying up to thirty tickets, the first arrived won the cheapest places.
Above all, for this first phase of sale, it is compulsory to buy at least one place for three different sports. However, if we take, for example, three tickets for a first discipline, we will have to order three tickets for the other two sports. A mechanism that many people who testify to the world describe as “forced sales”. This is the case of Audrey, student in Bordeaux, who wanted to see female artistic gymnastics with her sister:
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