IOC Seeks to Calm British Outrage Over London 2012 Tickets for Libya

(ATR) The IOC tells Around the Rings that no London 2012 tickets will be handed over to Libya until it receives assurances from the national Olympic committee that they will not fall into the hands of dictator Moamar Gaddafi's regime.

The IOC's director of communications Mark Adams told ATR that the organization was closely monitoring developments in Libya to avoid any diplomatic crisis for the British government in relation to the distribution of Games tickets.

"To be absolutely clear, no tickets have been printed or paid for. The IOC decided along with the organising committee [LOCOG] that no tickets will be handed over to the Libyan national Olympic committee until the current situation becomes clearer," he told ATR.

"Quite sensibly we will retain this ‘wait and see’ policy until we can be absolutely certain that the tickets can be used correctly."

Violence is currently sweeping Libya amid the popular uprising and bid by rebels to overthrow the Libyan dictator. Britain is currently aiding NATO's military crackdown on Libya after Gaddafi was accused of war crimes against civilians. He has been issued with an international travel ban and arrest warrant so is barred from attending the Games.

The IOC's statement is a response to a report today in Britain's The Daily Telegraph that said the Libyan NOC, headed by Gaddafi's son Mohammed, had successfully requested nearly 1,000 tickets for the Olympics, including the most popular such as the men's 100m final and swimming events.

The move has sparked outrage after one million people in the U.K. missed out on getting tickets in the first phase of the sales process. Some 1.8 million made more than20 million requests for 6.6 Olympic tickets. But only 800,000 succeeded and saw money leave their accounts and credit cards.

Despite the unrest in Libya, the country has so far avoided IOC sanctions. Under IOC policy, London 2012 organizers are obliged to sell tickets to participating NOCs to distribute tickets to sports organizations and athletes within their country.

The IOC confirmed that Ghana and Kuwait, who are currently suspended due to government interference in NOC affairs, and are not entitled to ticket allocations for the 2012 Olympics.

Adams added:"The IOC will of course continue to insist on the point that the athletes from whatever country are independent of government and should have a right to compete."

Marwan Maghur, secretary general of the Libyan NOC, defended the allocation of tickets his organization expects to receive in a statement to ATR Wednesday.

"We applied for our tickets long before the situation in Libya unfolded," he tells ATR.

"However, the tickets are used mainly like in previous Games for the participating athletes and their families. And not for the president of the NOC."

He added: "We are all hoping that by the time of London 2012, the situation in Libya will be different and our participation will be normal like any other NOC.

"I am sure the people in the UK and Londoners in particular as hosts share this and will be welcoming the athletes from Libya."

Libya sent a seven-member team to the Beijing Olympics. The North African country has yet to medal since first participating at the 1964 Games in Tokyo.

Written by Mark Bisson