IOC Prods Spain on 1992 Games : ‘Drastic, Urgent’ Decisions Needed, Samaranch Warns

Officials responsible for the staging of the 1992 Summer Olympics must make “drastic and urgent” decisions to ensure that Barcelona is in shape to host the Games, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said today.

“Time is running out,” the Spaniard said after a 90-minute emergency meeting with Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez. “Flashing red alerts is no longer useful. What is needed are drastic and urgent decisions.”

Samaranch, a Barcelona native recently reelected to head the International Olympic Committee, said he had requested the meeting with Gonzalez following the foul-ups and problems at the Sept. 8-10 World Cup Track and Field meet in Barcelona’s Montjuic Stadium, where most of the Olympic events are to be held.

Complaints Voiced

Athletes, journalists and officials complained of poor organization, faulty facilities at the stadium, first built in 1929 and undergoing remodeling, insufficient hotels and monumental traffic jams in Spain’s second-largest city.

Samaranch is known to favor strengthening the Barcelona Olympic Organizing Committee (COOB) through greater state participation.

On a recent Spanish television talk show, he said he was concerned that poorly run Olympic Games could cause “long-term damage to Spain’s international image.”

He said although he is a Barcelona native and a good Catalan, the Olympics “will have ramifications for all Spaniards” and rejected attempts by regional or city officials to monopolize the games.

Early Involvement Planned

Samaranch said Gonzalez told him today the central government will get more involved with the organization of the Games early next year following the Oct. 29 general elections, in which the ruling Socialists are expected to retain their parliamentary majority.

The IOC head has called for the establishment of a sports ministry in Spain. Sports currently are handled by an under-secretary in the Ministry of Education.

The setting of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, capital of the highly developed and independent-minded autonomous region of Catalonia, has become a political hot potato. The city and central government are run by Socialists while the region as a whole is governed by the conservative nationalist Convergence and Union Party.