Ticket sales for Glasgow 2014 to remain closed for five more days

By Nick Butler

Tickets for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will not go back on sale until Wednesday (May 21) as the problems which have dogged the final round of sales continue.

Problems began when the sales window opened on Monday (May 12) after numerous reports that potential buyers had not been able to connect their calls, or successfully purchase tickets online, leading to the process being suspended.

Some callers were also charged for their unsuccessful attempts, although it has since been announced they will be refunded.

Speaking yesterday, Glasgow 2014 chief executive David Grevemberg was optimistic progress would be made and that they were "looking forward" to sharing their plans.

But, despite this, giving the impression the process would be opened again today, it will not now recommence until Wednesday, with a range of measures being introduced to make sure it will be successful.

The process will open at 10am British Summer Time and will be phased over three days to avoid a backlog of applications, with groups of sports and ceremonies released at different times over the period.

There will also be a free-phone ticketing hotline, as well as free postage, in comparison with the previous system where tickets cost £4.50 ($7.57/€5.53) for addresses in the UK.

David Grevemberg remains confident the ticket selling process will ultimately be a success ©Getty Images

Grevemberg added today: "Over the past few days we've been working with our Official Ticketing Agent Ticketmaster with the aim of re-establishing a positive ticketing sales experience for the many thousands of people who want to be part of the Games.

"While we sold more than 60,000 tickets through our ticketing website and hotline and saw the most incredible support and enthusiasm from the public, the experience of purchasing tickets was frustrating and unacceptable for some people.

"With additional measures in place aimed at managing demand and the addition of free postage on all orders and a Freephone Ticketing Hotline, we aim to get back to the business of ensuring remaining tickets are sold and that thousands more people can begin to look forward to experiencing the excitement of the Games."

He added that, while "we cannot change the past experience of some of our customers, we do want to thank everyone for their huge support of the Games", before insisting: "Our focus now is on enabling everyone who wants to be part of one of the world's great sporting parties to be able to secure the tickets to do so."

With more than 50,000 tickets still available, it was claimed the changes follow an extensive programme of investigating by Ticketmaster, which has tested performance issues experienced by some customers.

Ticketmaster, which also experienced problems when overseeing the ticket-selling process for London 2012, has received the bulk of the criticism this week, particularly after it emerged that the England 2015 Rugby World Cup ticket sales, due to begin today, have also been delayed.

The company remain confident the problems will be resolved.

"We are pleased to confirm that we will be relaunching the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games ticketing website next Wednesday May 21," said Ticketmaster UK chairman Chris Edmonds.

"Our team has been working tirelessly to review, analyse and rectify the issues that were experienced on the site.

"Our priority remains to ensure that customers have the best possible experience when securing their tickets for the Games."

The specific breakdown of which available sports will be released for sale, and on which days, will be announced early next week.