IOC Says Athens Is Making Progress

Halfway through the seven-year run-up to the 2004 Summer Games, the head of an International Olympic Committee inspection committee pronounced that the IOC is “generally pleased” with preparations in Athens but warned yet again that time is of the essence.

Concluding a three-day meeting in the Greek capital, influential Belgian IOC member Jacques Rogge, the head of the IOC’s inspection team--called “the coordination commission”--said construction-project deadlines must be met and urged the government to jump-start the building of badly needed hotels.

The rest of 2001 is “full of critical construction start dates that cannot be missed,” the IOC said in a statement issued Friday.

Said Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, head of Athens 2004, the private committee organizing the Games in concert with the Greek government, “Time remains our biggest enemy.”

She nonetheless said she is “cautiously optimistic.”

Rogge said he is confident that if the Greek people “rally around the cause,” they will, at the end of the Games in August 2004, “take pride in not only their preparations but also their success.”

During the three-day visit by about 40 inspectors, the IOC sought--as it has for months--to quell speculation that the Games might have to be moved elsewhere, perhaps to Los Angeles or Seoul, because preparations have lagged so badly in Athens. A year ago, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said he had never in his 20 years atop the IOC seen a situation so perilous.

Angelopoulos-Daskalaki then took over Athens 2004. Key hires and strategic plans were made. A host broadcasting organization was formed. Marketing officials announced multimillion-dollar commitments.

With the foundation settling into place, the Games are increasingly certain to remain in Athens. To go elsewhere, of course, would be a provocative move fraught with political and diplomatic uncertainties.

But the situation depends in large measure on two entities--the Greek government and the IOC itself.

Key government responsibilities include security and construction.

Greece is home to Europe’s most elusive terrorist cell, dubbed 17 November, whose victims since 1975 include four Americans. No member of the group has been arrested. The government reportedly has allocated more than $500 million for Games security and pledged to undertake the largest security operation in Greek history.

The government also must ensure there is progress on dozens of construction projects--everything from the laying of access roads to the building or renovation of sports sites.

In recent days, the government for the first time gave the IOC final locations for all venues and set purportedly firm dates for their construction.

Rogge added Friday that the hotels are of “vital importance for the staging of the Games” and urged the government to do “everything possible” to facilitate their construction.

If construction lags, the focus will then turn to the IOC, which elects a new president in July at a meeting in Moscow. Rogge is a leading contender. His rivals are Anita DeFrantz of the United States, Kim Un Yong of South Korea, Dick Pound of Canada and Pal Schmitt of Hungary.

If Rogge is the new president, the Games are all but a lock to remain in Athens. It would be unthinkable for a European to take the Games out of Europe, according to numerous IOC insiders. However, if one of the others prevails, the situation could be assessed with a critical eye toward what it will take for the Olympic franchise to be successful in 2004, those insiders have said.

Rogge has made it plain that the burden now is squarely on the Greek government--and the focus on the construction projects.

Construction of the weightlifting and wrestling venues will be delayed, Rogge said Friday, but called that a “slight concern.”

“If the pace is as today, we will have absolutely high-quality games,” Rogge told reporters, stressing--as he has often--that the Games will be in Athens. “If we have delays, the quality might get lower.”