Commonwealth Games chiefs red-faced after ticket gaffe

Tickets for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games opening ceremony have been sent out with the wrong day on them, an error that red-faced Australian organisers admit is embarrassing.

Some 14,000 tickets for the showpiece event were printed with Thursday, April 4, when April 4 -- the day for the ceremony -- is a Wednesday.

“I was disappointed when Ticketek (the ticketing provider) informed us they had picked up the error,” Games chief Mark Peters told reporters late Tuesday.

“The ticketing process has gone really well and this is a glitch that none of us wanted.”

He said there were no plans to reprint them.

“It’s easily rectified in terms of we are going out to all individuals saying this is an absolutely valid ticket.”

Compounding the problems, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported further blunders Wednesday, with weightlifting, table tennis and triathlon tickets sent out with wrong times on them. The Games are contested between nations that are members of the Commonwealth, a group of countries that were once part of the British Empire.

The 2018 event will be held in Australia’s Gold Coast in the country’s northeast from April 4 to 15, with thousands of athletes and support staff due to attend.