BEIJING - Beijing Olympics organisers have told those who have secured seats for the opening and closing ceremonies to submit photographs before they get their tickets.
"To ensure security, eradicate fake tickets, control speculative ticket reselling, and safeguard the lawful interests of the majority of the buyers, a real-name entry system will be applied for the opening and closing ceremonies," they said.
Buyers living on the Chinese mainland needed to fill out a form with a recent photo on it, to be submitted to the Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) with a copy of their identification cards, BOCOG said in a statement on its Web site (www.beijing2008.cn).
The materials should be sent to BOCOG through outlets of the Bank of China from January 15-31 and should not be mailed, the statement added.
It did not say if the rule applied to those who bought the tickets outside the Chinese mainland.
Some 26,000 tickets for both the opening and closing ceremonies, which will take place at the 91,000-seat Bird's Nest National Stadium, were allocated by lottery in the first phase of ticket sales last year.
The tickets for the ceremonies, which cost up to 5,000 yuan ($690.20), were among the most in demand and applicants were restricted to one per person.
Successful applicants will be able to apply for one re-assignment of each ticket .
Seven million tickets for the August 8-24 Games will be made available to the general public with nearly three-quarters reserved for Chinese mainland residents.
Seat numbers will be allocated in March and successful applicants will be able to pick up their tickets in June and July.
