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For the opening ceremony, the tickets run as high as 2,700 euros (Ksh 401,391.94).
Amid the ongoing criticism about the price of tickets for next year’s Paris Olympics, organisers of the event have stated that hundreds of thousands of people will be able to watch the opening ceremony of the event for free.
According to reports by AFP, the final figure for the number of people who will be granted tickets for the vast and ambitious outdoor opening ceremony along the river Seine is still under discussion.
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Fans will pay as high as 2700 Euros for the Opening Ceremony.
"Hundreds of thousands. It will depend on the weather and the publicity you do for it," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said during a press conference when asked about the number of people on Tuesday, May 23.
Around 100,000 tickets will be sold for exclusive river-side positions, with organisers initially saying another 500,000 would be given an opportunity to watch from higher positions on roads above the Seine.
Athletes are set to sail down the river in a flotilla of 115 boats, the first time the opening ceremony for the Olympics has taken place outside of the athletics stadium.
"With its open and public nature, this ceremony will enable hundreds of thousands of people to see it for free," Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said.
With demand far outstripping supply, the organisers have faced a stream of criticism online and even from some athletes over the price of tickets, which first went on sale in February and March.
A second release of tickets, which began on May 11, has led to outrage over the prices of tickets for many sports at the Games. For the opening ceremony, they run as high as 2,700 euros (Ksh 401,391.94).
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"I'm not even sure that my family will be able to come to see me, it's so expensive," Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam, a two-time Olympic heptathlon champion, told Belgian media DH recently.
Also present during the press conference were Gérald Darmanin and Games chief Tony Estanguet. Estanguet defended ticket prices.
"Fourteen months from the Games, we have already sold 6.8 million tickets. That shows a very strong passion. It exceeds our objectives," he said.
The opening ceremony also poses a huge security challenge for French organisers, with around 10,000 athletes taking part and 200 heads of state set to attend in addition to the huge crowds on the river banks.
Around 37,000 members of the security forces would be on duty for the opening ceremony, Darmanin said, with summer holidays cancelled for police over the period of the Games which will run from July 26 to August 11.
Around 2,000-3,000 private security agents are also being recruited for the opening ceremony.
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NOC-K has partnered with the Department of Bouches-du-Rhône, the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, and the Athletic Club of Miramas.
Darmanin stressed drones were considered the biggest security threat, but he added air defence technology was available and would be trialed later this year during the Rugby World Cup in France.
"It's a new threat. It's not certain that anything will happen but it is certainly the most difficult to prepare for," he said.
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