Athens Olympics organizers have urged Greeks to buy all the remaining tickets for the August 13-29 Games.

Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, President of the Athens Organizing Committee (ATHOC), made the plea during a national radio broadcast.

"Fill the stadia and not just for the finals. It's helping our athletes to push themselves to their limits. It's also our duty as good hosts," she said.

An international campaign to boost sales was launched last month after organizers admitted that just 1.95 million of the 5.3 million tickets had been sold.

Angelopoulos-Daskalaki pointed out that 64 percent of the tickets available cost less than 20 euros.

She insisted, however, that she was satisfied with ticket sales and said demand was expected to increase in the coming weeks.

A survey published in a Greek newspaper on Tuesday reported that only 8.5 percent of Greeks had purchased tickets, even though 73.5 percent had expressed an interest in the Games.

Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said 99 percent of the tickets for the opening ceremony on August 13 had already been sold, and 85 percent for the closing ceremony on August 29.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2004)