One of the stars of the Commonwealth Games has criticised team officials for charging her more than £500 to allow her family to see her compete.
Like all the athletes who competed at the Games, Lynsey Sharp was entitled to two free tickets. She had to pay to allow her parents and sister to watch her 800m heats, semi-final and final, in which she won a silver medal.
Her criticism of Team Scotland for billing her £560 came after the Accounts Commission revealed that the Games had cost taxpayers £37 million less than had been budgeted.
Sharp, who also represented Britain in the 2012 London Olympics, said: “It’s not a mistake — that’s actually what I have to pay. It seems a lot, especially since they have said it was £37 million under budget. Obviously, if they were to give everybody free tickets it would be a lot of money but I think that — considering the games were so much under budget, and the fact that they would not have happened if not for the athletes — they could have made the tickets trade price at least. We have to pay full price.”
Jon Doig, chief executive of Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS), said: “CGS is funded through sponsorship and fundraising activities and whilst we would have liked to have given free tickets to athletes, our priority is always to ensure that we can fund the preparation and participation of the team at the Games.”