RIO DE JANEIRO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Attendances at the Copa America in Brazil have been 15 percent higher than at the 2015 edition of the tournament in Chile, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) said on Thursday.

The median attendance in the first week of the current tournament was 29,000, up from 25,000 four years ago, according to a CONMEBOL statement.

No comparison was made with the most recent Copa America, held in the United States in 2016 to celebrate the tournament's centenary.

The release of the crowd figures came after media reports blamed high ticket prices for swaths of empty seats in the opening eight games of the competition here.

The cheapest ticket to a match costs 120 reais - more than 30 US dollars.