Paralympics organisers said they are still hopeful of selling more than two million tickets for next month’s Games, despite just 300,000 being bought so far.
It was announced last week that the Paralympics, which is to begin in Rio de Janeiro on September 7, will be scaled back due to a reduced budget, which is partially due to poor ticket sales for both the Olympics and Paralympics.
However, a Rio 2016 spokesman said organisers still hoped that, despite just 12% being sold so far, more than 80% of the 2.4 million tickets available would be purchased.
“Our commitment to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is a sold-out Games and that is a commitment we are pursuing,” Rio 2016 spokesperson Mario Andrada told reporters.
IPC president Philip Craven told reporters that he hoped that ticket sales would pick up.
“At this point, it is difficult for us to expect the full venues that we saw in Beijing or London, or expect to see in Tokyo in four years’ time,” said Craven.
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