Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 ‘will not have same ticket troubles as London’

The chief executive of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games has promised the city’s sports stadiums will be packed full with spectators after taking on board the ticket problems encountered by those in charge of the London Olympics.

Doubts have been raised over the ability to fill the city’s venues in 2014, but David Grevemberg insisted lessons would be learned from the difficulties experienced by the London Games organisers.

Those behind the Olympics have faced a torrent of criticism over rows of empty seats at supposedly sold-out events, with the spaces in accredited areas reserved for sports bodies, family and friends of the athletes, and sponsors.

Organisers also struggled to sell tickets for a raft of football matches being staged at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

The first matches on the inaugural day of competition drew a crowd of only 15,000 in the 52,000-capacity stadium, despite the fact thousands of tickets were given away free to schools and youth groups in an attempt to fill spaces.

Along with Ibrox and Celtic Park – the respective homes of Rangers and Celtic – Scottish football’s national stadium will be one of the key Glasgow 2014 venues, with the three stadiums’ collective capacity some 163,000.

Nonetheless, Mr Grevemberg, a former wrestler, believes he and his team will succeed in getting people to attend the 11 days of competition, which will involve no less than 17 sports.

He said: “We’re looking to have full stadia, we’re looking to have an accessible and inclusive Games and we’re also looking to meet our ticketing revenue.”

Several hundred thousand tickets will be on offer for Glasgow 2014, but they will not be available to buy until some point next year.