Date set for first 2012 Olympics ticket sales

Sports fans will be able to buy tickets for the Olympics from the start of next year, the Standard understands.

Millions of would-be ticket-holders may also be able to register for their preferred 2012 event online within weeks, under plans being drawn up by Games chiefs.

On the London 2012 website they will be asked to state which of the 26 sports they want to attend and when. Those providing information are not guaranteed tickets but will receive alerts from the organising committee, Locog, when tickets go on sale next year. Locog plans to launch pre-registration in March after the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

It would mark the start of a 12-month campaign to sell the tickets towards its revenue target of £375 million.

Next year, the public will be able to apply for tickets through a ballot system which will account for up to 85 per cent of the 9.2 million tickets.

But credit card purchases can only be made using Visa — the official Olympic credit card. In the ballot there will be no preferential treatment for Londoners, who will contribute an average £120 each in council tax to the Games budget.

Locog will reveal its pricing policy towards the end of this year. The committee says it is committed to selling a large number of "affordable" tickets. But may not be able to deliver a pledge to sell 4.3 million at under £20 since that included 700,000 cheap tickets for baseball and softball which are no longer Olympic sports.

A Locog spokeswoman said: "Everyone across the UK will have the same opportunity to buy tickets."