Indian Olympic Association fail to reseve quota of tickets for 2016 Rio Olympics

The IOA failed to take any measures despite being given repeated deadlines

There is no doubt that India’s performance in the London 2012 Olympics was by far their best show at the quadrennial event so far. One of the key reasons for their fabulous show was the presence of large India contingent in the crowd at almost every venue that they played in.

However, it does seem like this time the athletes might not find as large a crowd as they did three years back after the Indian Olympic Association(IOA) failed to reserve the quota of tickets for the 2016 Rio Olympics for India.

Every country asks for a quota of sale in their respective country either via the IOC ticketing partner or on their own, but despite providing repeated deadlines to the IOA, they failed to take any measures to reserve the quota.

This now means that anybody who wishes to travel to Brazil next year from India to watch the Summer Games, wouldn’t be able to buy the tickets for the games in advance. The ones who would suffer due to this lapse from the IOA are the athletes themselves.

Sad that more Indian fans won't be able to come over and support us: Yogeshwar

Yogeshwar Dutt, who won a bronze for India in 60kg Freestyle event at the 2012 London Olympics, expressed sadness at not being able to compete in front of more home fans.

“It's a sad thing. It makes a lot of difference when our own people come and cheer us in the stadiums.

“We will feel sad if there is no one in the stands. A nation of 120 crore and no one from India to cheer is sad. When there is no support, it surely affects our performance,” he told Firstpost.

According to a report in the Indian Express, few of the members in the IOA were unaware about the procedure that needed to be followed while some others indicated that it wasn't financially viable to purchase tickets in large numbers from the IOC and put it up for sale in India.