The starting gun has been fired, the sale of tickets for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has begun. From today (31 March), Brazilian residents will be able to apply for tickets in the first of two draws, while non-residents can find out who is the authorised ticket reseller (ATR) in their country.

The ATRs will be responsible for ticket sales in their territories. To find out who is the ATR in your region, click here www.rio2016.com/spectators. This webpage will also feature the ATR website checker – a window into which the public can copy the web address of any company offering Rio 2016 Olympic Games tickets, and then be told immediately if the company is an officially authorised reseller.

“Each ATR will have its own sales process and fans should seek this information from the company that will sell tickets in their territory,” said Rio 2016 Ticketing Director Donovan Ferreti. “Any ATRs who are approved after 31 March, will be added to the list subsequently.”

Rio 2016 has also released the full compeition schedule for the Olympic Games. Click here to see and download it, and start planning your Games-time programme.

In total, about 7.5 million tickets for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be put on sale, with more half being priced at 70 Brazilian reais (about 22 US dollars) or less. The cheapest tickets will be 40 Brazilian reals (about 13 US dollars), while the most expensive ticket for a sports event will be 1,200 Brazilian reais (372 US dollars), and the most expensive opening ceremony ticket will be 4,600 Brazilian reais (1,425 US dollars).

Residents of Brazil have until 06 May to request tickets in the first draw, with the results being announced in June. Only those who entered the first draw will be able to apply in the second draw, which opens July, with results in August. There will also be first-come-first-served online sales phase for Brazilian residents in October. For residents of Brazil, complete information on how to apply for tickets is available in English here.

Both residents and non-residents of Brazil will be able to purchase any remaining tickets at box offices in Brazil from June 2016. Click here to view and download the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Ticketing Guide, which has the full details of the ticket sales process, including the sport-by-sport competition schedule and ticket options for each sport.

The ticket prices listed here are the face-value prices in Brazilian reais, as defined by Rio 2016. Each authorised ticket reseller (ATR) has the right to charge a service fee of up to 20 per cent of this value, capped at 120 Brazilian reais per ticket.

In recognition of Visa's longstanding support of the Olympic Games, only Visa cards will be accepted in the sales process for Brazilian residents.