Papering The Games - Pollstar News

It was perhaps inevitable. The city government of Seoul has been accused of forcing its employees to buy tickets to the Asian Games in the neighboring city of Incheon.

Photo: AP Photo / Dita Alangkara

Organizers of the Games have been struggling to fill seats for the 16-day sports spectacular, according to the Korea Herald. Some events have taken place in empty stadiums.

Media have come into possession of official documents and even a video that show how city officials ostensibly “requested employees’ participation” in buying tickets for the Games.

The reality was that each division had been assigned a quota of ticket purchases.

One employee told the Yonhap news agency, “We received a notice requesting that about 10 percent of workers in each division go to see the games.”

Since the Games started, sales rose from 10 percent to 30 percent, which is still short of the organizers’ goal.