IOC angry at hasty 2004 cuts
The chairman of the IOC’s Coordination Commission for the Athens 2004 Olympics has sent an angry letter to the Greek government, saying that Athens announced changes to plans for several Olympic installations without waiting for approval from the International Olympic Committee and the international federations of the sports involved. The letter from Denis Oswald was addressed to Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos and followed the minister’s announcement last Monday of the «redrawing» of several venues in a cost-cutting measure. Oswald had visited Athens the previous week. His letter also coded in Prime Minister Costas Simitis and the heads of the 28 international federations. It was published in Greek in yesterday’s Kathimerini. «We have stressed that any intervention must be studied and must first be approved,» Oswald wrote. «Under no circumstances will the number of installations be reduced.» Regarding Venizelos’s news conference, Oswald added: «We are especially concerned at the fact that we read reports, only a few days after our official visit, containing statements which you made and which say that the Greek government has decided to make cuts to some Olympic installations that will host sports that are not widely popular… If, indeed, the reports are true, you referred to the number of installations that will be reduced, with a specific example, giving the impression that the specific changes have been decided and are going ahead.» Among changes are those concerning equestrian events, shooting, beach volleyball, boxing, hockey, baseball and the modern pentathlon. «We cannot afford, say, a permanent badminton installation, even if I and all of you take up the sport, which is not to say I disparage it,» Venizelos had said.
