Sport - Generalia

Greece all geared up for the big occasion

ATHENS, AUG. 8. The chief organiser of the Athens Games told International Olympic Committee officials on Sunday that the city was prepared for the Games to begin this week.

``We have five days left until the cauldron is lit at the Olympic Stadium, and we are ready,'' Athens 2004 President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said in a report to the IOC executive board. The Games open on Friday.

Greece fell behind in construction of sports venues and other preparations for the Olympics because of political infighting and bureaucracy. As recently as two months ago, the IOC was worried that a number of venues and projects — from the main Olympic Stadium to a new tram, metro and suburban rail network — would not be completed in time.

But Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said Greece was ready after ``four years of hard work.''

``Our venues are ready. The Athens 2004 people are ready. The tram, the metro, the light rail and the Olympic lanes are up and running. The athletes of the world are training in our venues,'' she said.

She thanked residents of Athens — home to nearly 5 million people and 2 million cars — for putting up with strict traffic regulations that went into effect last week.

``The Greek people are determined to make these Games a success,'' Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said.

She also sought to allay any fears that terrorism would disrupt the Games, saying ``the most comprehensive, best-staffed and best-funded security operation in the history of the Olympic Games is in place.''

Security for the Olympics is costing a record $1.5 billion.

IOC member suspended

Meanwhile the IOC took stern action on Saturday following allegations of corruption in a BBC television documentary.

The President of the Association, Jacques Rogge, said the IOC executive committee had decided to suspend IOC member Ivan Slavkov. The 64-year-old, who was implicated in a votes-for-cash scandal that became public on Tuesday, was also declared a persona non-grata at the Athens Games.

"You see before you an angry man. To say I am disappointed...I am more than disappointed. I am an angry man," Rogge told a news conference.

He said he had decided to "provisionally deprive Ivan Slavkov of all his rights, prerogatives and functions deriving from his membership of the IOC throughout the inquiry."

Slavkov, who heads the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and the Bulgarian Football Association, had insinuated on the BBC production that his vote for the 2012 Olympic host city could be bought.

Rogge said the decision to suspend Slavkov had been taken after a recommendation by the IOC ethics committee.

The Bulgarian had said that he had merely gone ahead with the discussions concerning his vote, which had been filmed without his knowledge, to unmask the people who had approached him.

The IOC said that they did not believe Slavkov, but that the suspension was provisional as he had to be afforded an opportunity to answer the allegations.

The IOC also banned the general secretary of the federation of Asian Olympic Committees, Abdul Muttaleb Ahmad, from the Olympics. The Qatar national was seen on the programme suggesting that he could influence the 23 Asian IOC members to vote for London as the 2012 host city.

Three agents who do not belong to any Olympic organisation (Goran Takac from Serbia & Montenegro, Hungarian Gabor Komyathy and Mahmood El-Farnawani from Egypt) were — like Ahmad — declared "unwanted persons by the Olympic family."

The agents had suggested that they could organise 54 votes for London.

Slavkov is the third IOC member who has been suspended in the last three years. Also not finalised is a case involving the U.S. 4x400 metre relay team that won the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics. The International Athletics Federation (IAAF) recommended in July that the U.S. lose its gold medal after it retrospectively banned U.S. athlete Jerome Young for a doping offence.

The IOC said it wanted to await the end of the period during which the U.S. could lodge an appeal before finalising the matter.

A record

Nearly four billion people will watch the Games, the IOC said on Sunday, making it the most watched sporting event in history. The IOC said 300 channels worldwide would transmit an expected 35,000 hours of dedicated coverage from the August 13 to 29.

``It is estimated that over 3.9 billion people will have access to coverage of the Games - a significant increase from the last Summer Games,'' the IOC said in a statement.

The Sydney Games in 2000 were watched by an estimated 3.7 billion, a record for a sports event.

Total viewing hours worldwide are expected to be 39 billion compared with 36.1 in Sydney.

Pope's message

In Italy, Pope John Paul II expressed his ardent wish on Sunday that the upcoming events in Athens provide a venue for peace, not violence.

The pontiff, addressing pilgrims gathered at his summer residence in the hills outside Rome, also sent his warm wishes to all those participating in the Games and to the people of the Greek capital.

``I hope with all my heart that in this world, which is today troubled and at times very upset by so many forms of hatred and violence, the important sporting event of the Games produces an occasion of calm meeting and works to promote understanding and peace among peoples,'' the Pope said.

``On the Olympics and on the entire world of sport, I invoke the motherly protection of the most Holy Virgin.'' — Agencies

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