Paralympics: Games under threat

ATHENS - Squabbles between organisers and the Greek Government over who has control of the 2004 Games have set off alarm bells in Greece and at the International Olympic Committee.

"It would be tragic to wreck the Olympics because of the political fighting," Deputy Development Minister Alekos Kalafatis told a conference on the economic benefits of the Games.

Bureaucratic delays and chronic infighting have plagued Greece's organising efforts from the start and the IOC warned Athens in April to roll up its sleeves or risk the Games.

But problems persisted, despite a pledge by Prime Minister Costas Simitis that he would personally oversee progress, and a change at the helm with the appointment of Gianna Angelopoulou, credited with winning Greece's bid in 1996, as head organiser.

The IOC said the squabbling would further damage Greece's efforts to catch up.

Athens must pick a host broadcaster by the end of the month and agree to bring forward a May 2004 deadline for building the remaining 25 per cent of venues.

"I would call for a four-year truce," Jacques Rogge, the IOC vice-president overseeing the Athens Games, said earlier this week. "They cannot afford to quarrel. They have to unite."

The warning angered some in the Government. Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis acknowledged that Sydney was a tough act to follow, but said yesterday: "Nevertheless, the IOC must let us work without ultimatums and danger-mongering."

Organising committee officials said they hoped the criticism would finally jolt everyone involved into action.

"There has been an endless power game from day one, with everyone trying to jump over everyone else," one committee official said.

"How are we going to find 70,000 volunteers when the image we project is black?"

The chasm between the Government and the organising committee appeared to widen during the Sydney Games.

Culture Minister Theodoros Pangalos, who has most Government responsibility for the Games, changed his plans to attend the 2000 Olympics amid press reports that top officials from the organising committee were earning salaries many times over that of the Prime Minister.

The organising committee was also accused of overspending at Sydney, paying about $US1.6 million ($4.02 million) for its offices.

Angelopoulou appealed from Sydney for the organising committee to be left alone to perform its huge task. Asked whether the IOC would take the Games away from Greece if it botched the organisation, Angelopoulou said: "Theoretically the scenario exists."

- REUTERS

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