The original lottery system is more suitable for '08 Olympic ticket sales than the "first-come-first- served" mechanism adopted in the second phase of ticket release, Wei Jizhong, senior consultant for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) told the Beijing News on November 6, 2007.

As compared with Australia and Greece, hosts of the Olympic Games in 2000 and 2004, China has a far larger population at 1.3 billion people while the total amount of tickets remains almost the same. Therefore, according to Wei, the same ticket sales mechanism that went smoothly in Sydney and Athens was unsuitable for China, where event tickets became rare goods.

On October 30 when the second phase of ticket release kicked off, the buying spree on the Chinese mainland led to a collapse of the ordering system and an ongoing sales suspension.

Furthermore, Wei pointed out, the "first-come-first-served" mechanism failed to give full play to the principle of fairness, for those without easy access to the booking system would be left in an unfavorable situation and speculators may have more chances of hoarding tickets.

Yesterday, BOCOG failed to publish details on how the currently suspended ticket sales would be resumed, as previously promised. According to Wei Jizhong, this is because BOCOG has a strong sense of responsibility for the public and would not release a new plan before thorough deliberation.

Currently, the committee has only said the second phase of Olympic ticket sales would be changed into a ticket draw. Details will most likely be released in December.

To satisfy the strong public desire for watching the Olympic Games on site, the BOCOG senior consultant revealed that individual buyers would be given priority over organizations in ticket sales and there was no need for the public to feel panic about tickets unsold.

Unlike the tickets for the Olympic opening and closing ceremony, which are attached with the identity of the buyer, the tickets for sporting events may be transferred freely. Ticket speculators appeared online soon after the phase one release. On one website, a ticket to the Games was listed as high as 150,000 yuan (US$20,117.34).

However, not all online ticket vendors are speculating on the Olympic ticket market. Some of them received extra tickets because they made several applications in the ticket draw to increase their chances of winning, and some would be unable to attend the event for various reasons although they had successfully booked the tickets for next August.

Nevertheless, BOCOG reminded the enthusiastic public that anyone who managed to submit an order would eventually get the ticket in June or July next year. Therefore, transfers of the Olympic tickets will be allowed only after next July. Ticket speculators may face 10 to 15 days detention and a fine of up to 1,000 yuan, according to the Law on Public Security Administration Punishments in China. People who purchase Olympic tickets via the black market will most likely be denied access to the Olympic Games.

(China.org.cn by Chen Xia, November 6, 2007)