Commonwealth Games organisers ‘knew about risk of ticket sales fiasco’

Calls for investigation into Commonwealth brief crisis.

Commonwealth Games organisers knew days in advance their public ticket sale could end in farce but decided against delaying it.

That was the sensational claim last night from a well-placed insider who said staff at the Games HQ in Glasgow were asked to work around the clock in the days leading up to the release of the final 100,000 tickets for the event. It was feared their web systems could collapse under heavy demand.

The revelation has raised concerns about why organisers did not pull the plug on the sale, which left some fans waiting up to 31 hours trying to snap up briefs.

Our source said: “This didn’t come as a surprise. They’d been working around the clock to get it ready for the sale but there were serious concerns in advance.”

It comes as the firm at the centre of the debacle insisted it was not to blame.

Officials at Ticketmaster claim they were only working to the terms of the strategy the Games organisers gave them.

It is not known what the aborted ticket sale will cost but it is likely to be significant and passed on to the taxpayer.

In a troubling week for Games bosses, we can also reveal:

There’s little prospect of recovering any lost revenue from Ticketmaster.

A planned national advertising campaign by the Games was scrapped at the last minute.

Organisers are considering selling briefs on the day of the event to get rid of any tickets they are left with.

Last night there were calls for an investigation into Ticketmaster and why the firm criticised for its handling of the tickets for London Olympics was chosen in the first place.

In the last week the company also stopped the sale of 500,000 briefs for the Rugby World Cup in England next year because of glitches in their system.

On Friday, Commonwealth Games organisers made an apology after The Final Sprint ticket release was branded “shambolic.”

The process should have seen the release of the last 100,000 tickets across all 17 events to would-be spectators.

Ticketmaster says it had 200 workers manning the phones to cope with demand. But the sale was suspended after “technical problems”.

Alison Johnstone, Green MSP for Lothian and a former athlete, said: “The chaos surrounding the tickets, now spreading to the Rugby World Cup, is serious.

“It’s also surprising, given the supposed calibre of Ticketmaster, a long-established company that should be able to handle big events with ease.

“Given that the Olympic Games organisers were less than impressed with Ticketmaster’s performance during London 2012, I want to know what assurances Glasgow 2014 were given before awarding their contract, and why the Games and sports fans have been let down.”

Games organisers have now announced the glitch will stretch into a second week with the release of around 40,000 tickets they still have over three phases.

As an incentive to frustrated spectators they’ve announced cancelling a £4.50 postage charge for tickets.

Binning that could cost the organisers up to £200,000. But the cost ramifications of shifting the leftover tickets could be much higher.

Scottish Conservative spokeswoman on sport, Liz Smith MSP, said: “Clearly it would be very difficult if the Commonwealth Games were overshadowed by the ticketing issues, especially as it has come hard on the heels of the Red Road Flats fiasco.

“It is vital that there is full transparency most especially whether there was any warning of this problem and its related costs and that there are no more delays.”

John O’Connell, of the Taxpayer Alliance, added: “Games organisers have a responsibility to achieve the best value for taxpayers’ money with every pound they spend.

“Many people will not just be angry about not being able to buy tickets, but that this fiasco has put the cost of the Games up even further.”

But a bullish Ticketmaster absolved themselves of any blame, with a spokeswoman saying: “We are only the service provider.

“Organisers of the Games come up with the ticketing strategy and we just do the work.”

A Glasgow 2014 spokesperson said: “All efforts by Glasgow 2014 and Ticketmaster were focused on ensuring we were prepared for tickets going on-sale in the lead up to the release of the extra 100,000 tickets last Monday.

“We are now focusing our attention on working with Ticketmaster to reinstate the website next Wednesday at 10am.”

Last month it was revealed the price tag for the opening and closing ceremony to the Games had secretly rocketed to £21 million.

It came weeks after we revealed big Scots pop acts were snubbing the event and amid fury about the demolishing of the famous Red Road high rises.

Report by Gordon Blackstock and Paul Drury