The summer Olympics are set to take place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil from August 5 though the 21 (starting in less than a week) and a comment from a senior official from the International Olympics Committee [IOC] says preparations are the “worst ever.”
Australian vice-president Jason Coates made the statement with the games just a week away, saying “We have become very concerned. They are not ready in many, many ways. We have to make it happen and that is the IOC’s approach. You can’t walk away from this.” He compared the upcoming event to the 2004 Athens games, saying there is “no plan B.”
The games were fought for by the Brazilians in an effort to showcase the country’s fast growing infrastructure and quickly building world economics, despite negative headlines like last month’s arrest of 10 terrorists linked to an Islamic military group. Although Brazil’s Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo called the group, ““an amateur cell without any preparation,” leaders particularly in France have questioned the security and safety of the games.
Rio 2016 organizers released a statement addressing some of the concerns:
“The time has now passed when general discussions about the progress of preparations contribute to the journey towards the Games. It is time for us to focus on the work to be done and on engaging with society. We have a historic mission: to organise the first Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brazil and in South America. We are going to achieve this. In 2016, Rio will host excellent Games that will be delivered absolutely within the agreed timelines and budgets.”
Concerns in terms of readiness towards the build-up to the Olympic games is quite usual but Coates expressed added concern towards the Rio Games. “I think this is a worse situation than Athens. In Athens, we were dealing with one government and some city responsibilities. Here, there’s three,” comparing it to the 2004 games.
“There is bureaucracy, there is little coordination between the federal, the state government and the city – which is responsible for a lot of the construction. The flow of funds from the federal government is not happening quickly enough. We think we need to help facilitate that.”
