The government has little power over the empty seats scandal

The papers today are full of empty seats at the Olympics. This morning, a Downing Street spokeswoman tried to take a glass-half-full approach, saying the empty seats were ‘disappointing’, but adding that the Prime Minister was ‘satisfied’ that Locog was working to resolve the issue. Locog carried out a review at the weekend which found that the seats were in accredited areas rather than those allocated to sponsors. The accredited areas are set aside for ‘members of the Olympic family’, an unpleasant phrase that denotes representatives of the IOC and of the sporting federations,  as well as coaches, athletes and athletes’ families. The different options available are:

– Give the seats to young people from local schools and colleges who are already in the park as part of the Key Seats programme.

– Releasing tickets for sale to the public when it becomes clear the seats will not be used.

– Allowing troops, who are already accredited, to occupy the empty seats.

– Upgrading members of the public who have seats in other parts of a venue to the accredited seats, which are often in the prime areas with the best view.

– A Wimbledon-style ‘resale’ system where the seats of spectators who have left the venue are re-allocated to others at a knock-down price.