Less than half to tickets on sale for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics have been sold, organisers have admitted.
With just five months to go before the opening ceremony in Brazil, organisers reckon that only about 47 per cent of the tickets have been shifted.
A total of 7.5 million tickets were issued for the August 5-21 Games.
"About 47% of tickets have been sold," Rio 2016 communications director Mario Andrada said following a progress report by organisers to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Brazil's economic and political turmoil, as well as the spread of mosquito-borne Zika virus, is thought to have hampered the preparation for the Games, awarded to the country in 2009.
"The premium events and the opening ceremony are technically sold out," he said.
Andrada explained ticket revenues had reached 74 per cent ($194 million) of the overall target.
This is mainly due to more expensive tickets for premium events and the opening ceremony having been sold already.
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