Brazilian fans bought 1.6 million tickets for 2016 Rio Olympics

YEREVAN, JUNE 9, ARMENPRESS: Only 35 percent of the tickets initially available for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics have been allocated to Brazilian fans after the first phase of sales ended, Armenpress reports, citing the official website of the Games.

Rio organizers said Monday that almost 1.6 million tickets — of a total of about 4.5 million — have been awarded to fans after the first random draw happened this month.

Brazilian residents made 5.2 million requests for tickets, but most were duplicated for the most popular sessions.

Only 121 of the games' 694 sessions have sold out, including the opening and closing ceremonies, the men's football final and both men's and women's volleyball finals.

The most popular sports in the first phase of sales were football, athletics, volleyball, basketball and handball.

The second sales phase begins in July.