FEWER than 3000 tickets have been sold for some of the Olympic football matches at Hampden Park.

While games at Wembley and other stadiums in England sold out quickly, there has been limited enthusiasm for many of the Glasgow ties.

The situation leaves Games bosses facing embarrassment, with worldwide television audiences likely to watch ties taking place in front of a virtually empty National Stadium.

It comes after the London 2012 organising committee was forced to back down over its ban on the Saltire at Hampden, due to a petition by 1300 people in favour of it being flown next to the Union and the Olympic flags during the tournament.

The Herald understands 20,000 tickets have been sold for the men's Spain v Japan game on July 26 . However, the men's Belarus v Egypt game on August 1 has sold just 5000 seats.

Ticket sales for other games have been as low as between 2000 and 3000 briefs each, despite Hampden's 52,000 capacity.

The first games in the women's tournament – USA v France and Colombia v North Korea – kick-off on July 25, two days before the London opening ceremony.

The men's event at Hampden starts the following day.

Ticket prices are between £20 and £40 per adult. Places at the men's final, semi-finals and quarter-finals at Wembley sold out last year.

Spectators who turn up for the football at Hampden will face higher security than usual with pat-down searches on arrival.

Strathclyde Police will oversee the policing of the eight football matches in Glasgow and will also provide security for much of the Olympic torch relay in Scotland, team hotels, training camps and fan events.

The Olympics are expected to cost Strathclyde Police almost £2.5 million – just over half of which it can recover from the UK Government.

The Herald understands Scottish forces will be providing about 778 officers to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games under mutual aid agreements. On peak days, 12,500 officers will police the Games across the UK, with 9500 in London.

The Games require a 105-day policing operation from June 4 to September 16. The organisers want the policing of events in Glasgow, London and Manchester to look the same. As a result there will be armed officers in Glasgow city centre, at the team hotels and around Hampden.

Up to 500,000 people from across the world are being screened in an attempt to stop the Games being targeted by criminals or terrorists. The stringent security checks were designed to ensure nothing is left to chance.

Officials from the Home Office and the Security Service have completed screening about two-thirds of the domestic and foreign accreditation applications from athletes, coaches, security staff and media from more than 200 nations.

All leave has been suspended at MI5 to ensure the service has its full complement of some 3800 staff on duty.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We will leave nothing to chance in our aim to deliver a safe and secure Games."