Other Sport
Beijing Olympics committee replaces ticketing director
By DPA
Nov 30, 2007, 14:16 GMT

Beijing - The organizers of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Friday replaced the director of their ticketing operations after chaos caused by the collapse of the booking system last month.

Zhu Yan, previously head of information technology for the city, has been appointed to replace the former director Rong Jun.

At a news conference, Zhu did not say whether Rong was dismissed or if he stepped down.

Ticket sales in China will resume again on December 10 in the form of a lottery.

Organizers hope this will prevent a repeat of the crash that occurred on October 30 when demand on a first-come, first-served basis overwhelmed the system.

A lottery system was used in the first phase of ticketing in April.

'There are so many Chinese who want to watch the games and the tickets available can't match the demand,' Zhu said.

'The new policy will give more people a chance to watch the Games, and it will prevent ticket scalpers from making profits.'

In the lottery system, people will be limited to four tickets each for two events - a maximum of eight - and have until December 30 to apply. More than 7 million tickets will be sold for the Games.

The new system will enable ticket buyers to submit their applications for tickets 'at a leisurely pace,' Zhu said. It will ensure that tickets will be distributed randomly, without giving preference for those who submit their applications first.