Olympic ticket system faces fresh test

LONDON — The controversial ticketing system for the 2012 London Olympic Games will be under scrutiny once again on Friday when some 2.3 million tickets go on sale from 6:00am local time (0500 GMT).Three million tickets were sold in the first round which ran from March 15 to April 26, but of the 1.9 million people who applied, just 700,000 were successful.However, the disappointed 1.2 million applicants will get an exclusive 10-day window in the next round, until 1700 GMT on July 3, but the process this time is first come first served.The remaining tickets will then be offered to first round winners, who can buy some extra seats from 0500 GMT on July 8 to 1700 GMT on July 17.In total, 2.3 million tickets are up for grabs over the split second round. Nearly three quarters of them -- 1.7 million -- are for the men's and women's football tournaments, which are being held in major stadiums across Britain."We recognise that the massive demand for tickets has meant that many sports fans were disappointed not to receive tickets in the initial application," said London 2012 Games chief Sebastian Coe."That's why we are prioritising them specifically in the second round, and giving them the first choice of tickets available."Besides the football, plenty of tickets remain for boxing, judo, hockey, handball and volleyball.Availability is low for events including athletics, rowing, table tennis and the basketball finals.Many of the cheapest tickets, which started at £20, have been sold, with remaining seats leaning towards the more expensive price brackets.British Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Bradley Wiggins, aiming to add to his medal collection at a fourth successive Games in next year, is among those who have criticised the ticketing system, telling the BBC: "I think, as most of the public feels, it's a bit of a shambles the ticket allocation."However, a spokesman for the organisers said: "We had over 22 million applications for tickets from the British public -- this compares to the 15,000 Brits who travelle

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