WORRIED organisers of Wednesday night’s Commonwealth Games opening ceremony have given away more than 5,000 tickets to ensure that the stadium is full.

Local media reports today say that over £1 million worth of tickets have been handed to the families of those volunteers taking part in the ceremony at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

They say that more than 10,000 tickets for the event remain unsold because the sports-mad Australians are distracted by other sporting events taking place in the city.

This means that friends and family of the Jersey team who are travelling to Melbourne this week may still get a chance to witness the opening ceremony, which is to be beamed to an estimated one billion people around the world.

As well as those being given away, a further 5,000 tickets, costing about £200 each, remain on sale and embarrassed officials may be forced to give those away to members of the public on the day.

The reason for the lack of interest is being blamed on the sports-mad Australians, who have this month already seen the opening of their popular Aussie Rules football season and the close of the cricket season.

The Formula One Grand Prix is also coming to Melbourne just days after the Commonwealth Games finish.

Meanwhile, 22,000 tickets have gone on sale today for certain events, which will allow some relatives to see their family members perform in sports such as swimming, hockey and cycling.

The organisers have spent the last week assessing the seating at each venue and have decided they had been over-cautious about the number of seats being put on general sale.

Jersey team manager Paul Huddlestone said: ‘We’ve been told to expect a full-house for all the events.

The atmosphere will be electric.

It will be a moment to savour for us all.’