Online applications for the ticket lotteries for the Tokyo Summer Olympics’ opening and closing ceremonies as well as 16 other sports games will open on June 26, the Japanese travel agency JTB Taiwan said yesterday.
Representatives of the agency, the Games’ authorized ticket reseller in Taiwan, told a Taipei news conference that 3,159 tickets would be reserved for Taiwanese.
Of 3,159 tickets for Taiwan, 1,759 would be available via the lotteries and 1,400 have been included in Olympic Games package tours, which go on sale on July 1.
They said the nation’s quota for the opening ceremony was 57 tickets, 40 for the closing ceremony, 496 for badminton games, 228 for basketball games, 210 for archery events, 108 for tennis, 50 for weightlifting and 16 for gymnastics.
The most expensive tickets are those for the opening ceremony, with those in the A section of the stands priced at about NT$87,000, the agency said.
Most of the seats for the various sports events are in the C section, it said.
The cheapest tickets are those for the marathon races, which cost about NT$860 each, although the exact price would depend on the current exchange rate, it said.
Tickets for the badminton matches are expected to sell quickly, as many Taiwanese are likely to want to see Taiwanese world No. 1 Tai Tzu-yin (戴資穎), who has announced that she would retire after the Tokyo Olympics.
The application period for ticket lotteries would open on JTB Taiwan’s Web site (jtbtaiwan.voyage.com.tw/eWeb_jtbtaiwan/Tokyo2020.asp) at 2pm on June 26 and close on July 26. The results are to be announced on Aug. 26.
To prevent the illegal resale of the tickets, each ticket will have its buyer’s name printed at the top, and staff at the Games could ask ticket holders to present identification, the agency said.
Tickets are non-refundable and buyers would only be able to transfer the ticket to another person under certain conditions, it said.
Those attending Tokyo Olympic events would not be allowed to upload photographs, videos or other audio-visual content taken during an event to the Internet or post them on social media, the agency said.
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