The organisers of the Sochi Winter Olympics 2014 have admitted that they have asked volunteers to fill some of the empty seats at venues during the events.
A spokeswoman for the Games, Alexandra Kosterina, said that if they were expecting a low turnout due to unsold tickets or people arriving late, then they would offer seats to off-shift volunteers.
"As with every organising committee, we do have the motivation programme, personal motivation programme, so those volunteers who are not in shifts might take part in it," Kosterina told reporters on Monday.
"It depends on the events. If we see that there is not a turnout and there are seats available, then, yes, we invite some of the volunteers to join in."
On a number of occasions so far, Russian spectators have left once home interest in certain events have ended.
