1.2 million tickets left for Paris Olympics

Organisers of the Paris Olympics said on Wednesday that there were still 1.2 million tickets left for the Games, mostly for football, basketball and handball.

Team sports such as football have struggled to sell out the large venues chosen for the matches, while organisers are also set to release new more sought-after places for the finals of the swimming and athletics from Thursday.

"More than 50 000 tickets will be put on sale in more than 30 sports (on Thursday)," deputy director general Mickael Aloisio told reporters.

The Paris Games have set a new record for the total number of tickets sold, with the 8.7 million purchased surpassing the previous high of 8.3 million at the Atlanta Games in 1996.

"More than 60 per cent" of tickets have been sold in France, Aloisio said.

Organisers faced severe criticism from fans and even some athletes over the cost of tickets when they were first released last year, which undermined the promise of a "people's Olympics".