Baku, Azerbaijan, May 15
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:
Sales of tickets for the First European Games rising every week more and more, Mirjam Bogataj, head of ticketing at Baku 2015 European Games Operations Committee told Trend on "This Week in Focus" program episode.
"We are on schedule [in sales of tickets]," she said.
More than half of the tickets for the opening ceremony of the Games have already been sold and the Baku 2015 Operations Committee is counting to have them completely sold out for the opening ceremony, according to Bogataj.
"I would like to take this opportunity to say to all the potential spectators of the opening ceremony to purchase the tickets in advance, because they will not be on sale at the stadium," she added.
Furthermore, Bogataj added that there are plenty of opportunities to buy tickets for the Games.
The tickets can be bought online from the official sales page at baku2015.com, she said, adding that moreover, 12 official outlets have been opened all around the city.
The main sales points are in the Park Boulevard shopping mall, 28 Mall and Metropark, she added.
Those who want to know exactly the address of the closest sales point, need to call 2015 - the call center of the European Games, she said. "We have a plenty of recorded information [in the call center] and there are agents available to give additional information."
Bogataj said the Baku 2015 Operations Committee is expecting to sell all tickets. "That is why we sell them with such an affordable price."
Tickets are very affordable for everyone - between 2-3 Azerbaijani manats for the preliminary sessions and 5 manats for final sessions, she added.
"Besides this, we are offering free tickets for almost all sport events for all children under 16," said Bogataj.
"The only condition is that they can come to the venue with one adult who can take care of them for security reason."
Furthermore, she said that there is a huge interest for all sports, in particular, for swimming, athletics.
Bogataj recommended all spectators of the First European Games to use public transport instead of the private cars for visiting the competition venues.
She noted that the frequency of the buses will be increased, the metro will be opened longer hours from 6 a.m. (UTC/GMT +5 hours) till 1 a.m.
Besides this, at the main metro stations there will be special shuttle buses which will connect metro to the venues, Bogataj said. "There will not be parking [for private cars] around the venue."
Moreover, there will be specific transport measures for the Games in order to avoid traffic jams, she said. "There is definitely no reason to take the car."
Bogataj expects that the European Games will surprise the fans. "Fans will be absolutely surprised by wonderful venues which have been build and prepared according to Olympic standards."
She added that these venues will remain an incredible legacy for the country for hosting next events and give an opportunity to new generations to come to use these venues, do develop sport skills and to become world class competitors.
"We will surprise the fans with wonderful organization of the event and they will be surprised by an incredible atmosphere," Bogataj said.
Baku 2015 is the first ever European Games, an exciting and innovative multi-sport event for the continent which will take place on June 12-28, 2015.
There will be a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition.
Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012.
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