Rio 2016: IOC vice-president says preparations are 'worst' ever

[third eye]

BBC Sport - Rio 2016: IOC vice-president says preparations are 'worst' ever

Preparations for the 2016 Rio Olympics are the "worst" ever seen, according to International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates.

The Australian said the IOC has taken "unprecedented" action by placing experts in the local organising committee to ensure the Games go ahead.

"The situation is critical on the ground," he said.

The news comes as Brazil faces a race to be ready in time for the Fifa World Cup, which starts in 44 days.

Coates, who has been involved in the Olympics for nearly 40 years, has made six trips to Rio as part of the commission responsible for overseeing the preparations.

He added that one of the experts embedded in the local committee was a construction project manager.

"The IOC has adopted a more hands-on role," said Coates. "It is unprecedented for the IOC but there is no Plan B. We are going to Rio."

He said that, in his opinion, this was "a worse situation" than in 2004, when there were concerns about preparations for the Athens Games.

"It's the worst that I've experienced," he added. "We have become very concerned. They are not ready in many, many ways. We have to make it happen and that is the IOC approach. You can't walk away from this."

Preparations for the 2004 Athens Games were marred by delays in construction and service delivery, but the venues and infrastructure was ultimately delivered in time.

Coates said that construction has not even started on some venues in Rio, which will host South America's first Olympics, while infrastructure is significantly delayed and the city has "social issues that need to be addressed".

He added that Rio organisers have the same number of staff - 600 - as London did at the same stage in their preparations for 2012, but did not have the necessary experience.

Coates, who was involved in the organisation of the Sydney 2000 Games as head of the Australian Olympic Committee. said it was proving difficult for the IOC to get the answers they needed.

"No-one is able to give answers at the moment," he said.

"Can they use the car parks in the village for recovery centres? What will be the time to take from this venue to this venue?

"All of those things, they're being fobbed off."

Coates also claimed that only two people were working in Rio's test event department with tournaments scheduled to start this year.

 

[madooxno9]

Looks like Indian FAT messy wedding which comes along all good at the end

We had similar situation at common wealth games. But to say the truth countries like India , Brazil are bit far away from hosting mega events like Olympics .

 

[blackface]

Brazilian government is full of thieves. Most Brazilians want the government to deliver proper services instead of focusing on sports events. It is the land where people pay taxes of the first world but get services of the Sub Saharan Africa.

 

[madooxno9]

Brazilian government is full of thieves. Most Brazilians want the government to deliver proper services instead of focusing on sports events. It is the land where people pay taxes of the first world but get services of the Sub Saharan Africa.

I feel ya Bro. Corruption is rampant in Brazil from Gov. to Police to every nook and corner . SO is in India or any developing country.

 

[Beidou2020]

Brazil is a joke (Olympic disaster). India is even a bigger joke (commonwealth disaster).
Russia is slightly better but they stuffed up their Olympics too with malfunctioning rings and unclean athlete villages.

Only China hosts major sporting events well.

Brazil should never have gotten the Olympics. Latin American people and South Asian people are very incompetent people. Chinese people lack common sense and some are stupid too but not to the same extent as Brazilians and Indians.

Chinese central government leaders are pretty smart so they can get things done.

 

[+4vsgorillas-Apebane]

The Brazilians better have some kind of Jugaard solution. Enough to see the games through then let the wheels fall off, the stadiums collapse and athlete villages creep into dilapidation.

Then again, this kind of talk always happen. People were even questioning whether Beijing was ready for the Olympics. Even if all is properly done, the western media will scoop for trash by pointing out homelessness, poverty and lack of democracy.

The only event that was absolutely disgraceful was the commonwealth games of....

The media bashed it and quite rightfully so. The event became a cash grab for the organizers who shamefully looted the pride of the nation.

 

[Mythal]

Brazil is a joke (Olympic disaster). India is even a bigger joke (commonwealth disaster).
Russia is slightly better but they stuffed up their Olympics too with malfunctioning rings and unclean athlete villages.

Only China hosts major sporting events well.

Brazil should never have gotten the Olympics. Latin American people and South Asian people are very incompetent people. Chinese people lack common sense and some are stupid too but not to the same extent as Brazilians and Indians.

Chinese central government leaders are pretty smart so they can get things done.

Thank you for your racist comment.