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Greece, IOC exchange war of words over Olympic Games
Two months before the start of Athens Olympic Games slated for August 13-29, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge on Friday triggered a new wave of war of words with Greek government and Athens organizers (ATHOC) by implying that the Olympic Games should have been given to Rome instead of Athens. Rogge, in a statement to an Australian newspaper to be published on Sunday, said that it was wrong that the Games were given to Athens and that Rome's file was better. ATHOC President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, who expressed unwillingness to be drawn into the war of words earlier this week, on Friday evening appeared visibly displeased. "President Rogge has helped a lot in the preparations of the Athens Olympic Games. He himself and all the world knows well that the Games are judged by what is going on between the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony," she told reporters. "We are working day and night and whoever sees the Olympic Stadium today understands why we say that we will have excellent and unique Olympic Games," she added. Asked whether the Games should have been given to Rome, Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said: "Greece acquired the privilege to host the Games because it had the best candidacy and the best proposal." "Whoever sees what work we have done up to now understands that we will have excellent Games," she stressed. However, Alternate Culture Minister Fani Palli-Petralia, who is in charge of daily supervision of Olympic preparations, seemed a bit restrained. "It is not important what Mr. Rogge says now. What is important is what he will say after the closing ceremony of the Athens Games which will be excellent and completely safe," she said. During an interview with the Belgian paper Le Soir Last weekend, Rogge accused Greece of spending too lavishly on the Athens Olympics, despite the IOC's warnings. He said the IOC had always asked for "simple structures" that would be easier to complete on time, specifically mentioning the roof covering the Olympic Stadium, which he said cost 190 million euros. "They insisted and we cannot oppose the decisions of a sovereign government. But let no one come and tell us, eye to eye, that the Games have cost too much," he said. He attributed the huge cost of security preparations to Greece' s "very low level of security (infrastructure)." He added that the IOC's lesson from Athens is that "we will favor in the future candidacies with a maximum of infrastructure ( ready) and a minimum of virtual plans." "What is important is to complete the preparations and be ready for August," Palli-Petralia commented. However, the local media reacted rigorously and criticized the IOC chief charging Greece at improper time. Greece's respected Kathimerini newspaper said Rogge's remarks were the most "acid" and "poisonous" criticism of the Games because they were from the IOC chief himself. "If Rogge really believed that Athens should organize a simple Games that would be different from previous ones, he should have said so when he took over as IOC President and also proposed the necessary changes," the paper added. "He (Rogge) appeared concerned about shielding the IOC from post-Games criticism over costs in an angry Greek debate that is likely to come in September," the daily said. "Perhaps he's read his history well (as soon as the 1896 Games were over, Greeks and the IOC under another French-speaking president, Pierre de Coubertin, went at each other like a pair of cats in heat)," it reminded. |
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