A swimmer competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics is calling on the International Olympic Committee to help the families of competing athletes attend events after his parents fell victim to a ticket scam.
Matt Richards, Britain’s Olympic freestyle gold medalist, addressed the IOC in an Instagram story, writing, “I do find it crazy that when competing at an Olympic Games, the families of the athletes have to source and fund tickets themselves,” noting that his family is “looking at a bill of thousands of pounds spent on tickets, just to see me swim in a couple of sessions this summer.”
“Given that you won’t pay the athletes who compete in the event (that creates billions every year in revenue) due to it ‘not being the Olympic spirit’ … do you not think it’s time that you support the families of the people competing, by giving them tickets to the events that their family members are competing in?” Richards said.
Richards went on to note that “seeing your family or friends compete at an Olympic Games shouldn’t be reserved for the people that have thousands to spare, who can afford to come and watch.” Then, he called out IOC president Thomas Bach directly, writing that Bach and the IOC should “start taking care of their athletes and not just their shareholders.”
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Richard’s family attempted to buy tickets to see the swimmer this summer; Richard’s mother Amanda told the BBC that the family was scammed out of 2,500 pounds ($3,170.50) after buying tickets on a website that “looked perfectly legitimate.” Amanda said that they had been unable to afford tickets in the official ballot; by the time it was their turn to purchase tickets, only the most expensive seats — priced at 3,000 euros each — were available.
“We don’t have the masses of savings,” she told the publication. “We just don’t have the money to be able to buy another set of tickets. We’re devastated…I was really upset. I feel like a fool.”
Richards, hailing from Droitwich, Worcestershire, secured gold at Tokyo 2020. He could compete in six of the games this summer after qualifying for Team Great Britain, which are set to begin on July 26.
There has been steady discourse over the past year regarding Paris 2024 ticket prices.. When tickets first went on sale to the general public, around 7 million tickets were sold. Many have spoken-out regarding the high ticket prices; Sebastian Coe, the president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and former head of the London 2012 organizing committee, criticized the Paris 2024 bosses for the cost of tickets for this year’s event, noting that fans and the families of athletes will be priced-out.
