LONDON  - Dozens of spectators were turned away from the London Olympics archery at Lord's cricket ground on Friday after the first ticketing mix-up of Games, organisers said. The preliminary men's archery round was being held behind closed doors as is traditional for the sport, but some fans were apparently misled by unofficial websites saying they would be allowed in. Several people had queued from early in the morning in the hope of gaining access on a first come first served basis and numbers peaked at around 50 by the time the archers started shooting.
"This has always been a non-ticketed event but it seems some people believed they could come down on the day," Lord's venue manager Vanessa Bellamy said. "This was never the case but we believe some illegal websites may have suggested this was the case."
Some "non-ticketed" events such as the cycling road race allow fans to watch for free but this was not the case for the archery.
Games organisers LOCOG said they had neither advertised nor sold tickets for the event.
"We have always made it clear that the preliminary rounds are not open for spectators," a spokesman said. "There are a number of unofficial websites claiming to sell tickets, we therefore advise people to be extremely cautious and vigilant when attempting to buy tickets and only purchase from an official source."