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| Fine for ticket touts has been increased to 20,000 pounds for the Olympics |
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More than six million tickets for next year's London Olympic Games go on sale online on Tuesday, when organisers will be crossing their fingers that demand will be sufficient to threaten a website meltdown without actually delivering one.
Ticket sales will be vital to the success of London 2012 if it is to raise the projected £2bn from the private sector required to pay for the staging of the Games. A quarter of the Games's revenue is hoped to be raised through ticket sales alone.
The government has already signalled the importance of Tuesday's release by announcing an increase in the fine for ticket touting from £5,000 to £20,000. The organisers are planning to tackle cyber-crime with a range of measures. "By increasing the fines for touting, we are sending a clear message to criminals and prospective criminals that it is not worth their while and they are not welcome," said the home secretary, Theresa May
Police have taken the unusual step of contacting known ticket touts in advance of sales going live. Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, the national Olympic security co-ordinator, said: "We do not want our Games blighted by touts. My officers are working now to make the Olympics as hostile an environment as possible for them, and increasing the penalty will help by sending a clear warning.
"We have sent out letters to those who may try to illegally sell Olympics tickets to warn them that their card is marked and we are watching."
For the most sought-after events, an automated, random ballot will be used to ensure a fair allocation of tickets. Applicants will be notified whether or not they have been successful by 24 June. Prices will start at £20, with the most expensive seat at the opening ceremony going for £2,012.
Sports enthusiasts are being warned to double-check that they are buying tickets from the official website before they provide their credit and debit card details. The London organising committee bought up hundreds of domain names to try to prevent overseas operators from selling unauthorised tickets. Only the official website, its travel partner Thomas Cook, and hospitality providers Prestige Travel and Jet Set Travel are authorised to sell tickets.
"This is the greatest show on Earth. It is our objective to make sure it doesn't degenerate into the greatest scam on Earth," said Lord Coe, the chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog). "This is a very complex area, but it is our objective to make it as hard as possible for this process to be subverted."
Paul Deighton, Locog's chief executive, said that while there was the possibility of tracking the buyer of every ticket, a "commonsense" approach would be taken to ticket holders distributing them among their family and friends. The six-week sales period should avoid the need for panic, with ticket applications being taken until one minute to midnight on Tuesday 26 April.
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