Tom Peck: Dilemma for Locog exposes ticketing system in need of an overhaul

If any criminal deals of the type set up in artifice by The Sunday Times have actually happened, whoever bought the tickets need not fear their being confiscated.

The IOC's investigation is unlikely to be concluded before the Opening Ceremony. Locog could withhold or cancel tickets assigned to the implicated countries, but that would almost certainly come at the expense of genuine fans.

They may recall any unsold allocation, and put the tickets back in the pot for the UK public, but Locog and the IOC will have to move quickly, something the IOC is not known for.

Organisers have long held concerns over whether all the 1.1 million tickets sent abroad would find their way into the hands of Olympics fans and at the correct price. Locog maintains it fought hard to keep as many of the 8.8 million tickets as possible for the British public, but demand from foreign countries was unprecedented.

By the time tickets for Sochi and Rio go on sale, it might not be unrealistic to expect an overhaul in the way they are distributed.