Rio organizers hope to boost ticket sales on «Super Thursday»

Rio de Janeiro (dpa) - Some 100,000 tickets were on sale Thursday for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics as organizers hoped to boost sales in the final countdown to the Games.An organizing committee spokesman told dpa that so far only 4.4 million of 6.1 million tickets have been snapped up, or 72 per cent.Organizers hope to boost sales with the "Super Thursday" programme which includes tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies, swimming and tennis sessions as well as medal matches in volleyball, basketball and football.However, Rio has with 93 per cent almost met its financial target from the tickets by generating 978 million reais (300 million dollars) so far.Organizers are still hoping to sell most tickets as Brazilians traditionally decide on short notice whether to attend an event.However, a poll from the Datafolha institute also said that 51 per cent of Brazilians are not interested in the Games, up from 28 per cent at the previous poll, and 50 per cent opposed to the Games.Some 300,000-500,000 foreign visitors are expected for the August 5-21 Games, and hotels are filled to 90 per cent of the overall capacity.