Olympic organizers are rushing to quell a scandal over half-empty stands at the London Olympics. The British government has launched an urgent inquiry to identify ticket-holders who fail to show up to events.

The first-day competition saw patches of empty seats at key venues, including Wimbledon - one of the hottest tickets in world tennis. For more than a year, Olympic tickets have been in high demand in the UK, especially for marquee events like swimming and gymnastics.

Applications for tickets far exceeded availability, and many people were left disappointed. Organisers say it's unclear whether the empty seats were allocated to sponsors, international federations or athletes' families. One suggestion to fix the problem is a 30-minute rule, whereby fans without tickets are allowed to take up vacant seats if ticket-holders don't arrive.