New home for organizers of Athens 2004 Games

IOC announces Ticketmaster chosen for turnkey solutions

A view of the still incomplete headquarters of Athens 2004.The organizing committee, Athens 2004, moved into the new headquarters yesterday.

Athens 2004, the organizers of the 2004 Summer Olympics, yesterday inaugurated their new headquarters complex.

The International Olympic Committee also announced the appointment of Ticketmaster as the official ticket systems sponsor of the 2004 Games. Los Angeles-based Ticketmaster is a leading provider of automated ticketing systems worldwide, and the IOC said in announcement issued in Lausanne, Switzerland, that the company will provide turnkey solutions for the 2004 Olympics.

«The delivery of a ticketing program is one of the most critical areas for the ultimate success of an Olympic Games,» said IOC Marketing Director Michael Payne.

Tickets for the 2004 Games are expected to go on sale in the summer of 2003. Athens 2004 chief Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki described the move into the new complex as a type of test event that was accomplished in three days.

«It was a small test event for us and it turned out to be completely successful,» Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said.

(Later yesterday, Angelopoulos-Daskalaki met with President Costis Stephanopoulos and briefed him about progress in the preparation of the Games.)

The refurbished garment factory will also serve as the operational center for the Olympics during the course of the Games and is located in the northwestern suburb of Nea Ionia, near the main Olympic complex. The complex includes seven buildings covering more than 30,000 square meters (322,920 square feet). A total of 4,000 people will be able to work on the premises once the whole complex is gradually delivered to organizers.

During the headquarters' inauguration, Angelopoulos-Daskalaki also defended her organization's salary policies after reports claimed employees received exorbitant monthly wages.

«We are not playing here. We are working,» said Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, who does not receive a salary for her work. The average monthly wage for the executive committee members is reportedly about 15,000 euros ($13,000) per month, while middle-level employees reportedly received about 1,500 euros ($1,300) - close to the average for those in the private and public sector. (AP)