Athens Airs Olympic Doubts For First Time

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 6-4-2004 | Harry de Quetteville

[blam]

Athens airs Olympic doubts for first time

By Harry de Quetteville in Athens
(Filed: 04/06/2004)

The first cracks in the Greek government's united front in promoting this summer's Olympics have appeared after ministers questioned publicly whether the Games were worth all the bother.

After foreign criticism over delays and mishaps in the preparations, the public works minister, Giorgos Souflias, who is in charge of many Olympic building sites, left colleagues in the Greek parliament aghast by airing his "doubts as to whether we should have undertaken the Olympic Games".

Giorgos Alogoskoufis, the finance minister, announced that the spiralling costs had sent Greece's Olympic balance sheet into the red and that the country "would not have been so enthusiastic" to host the Games if it had known what was in store when it made its bid.

The comments from two of the most senior ministers with responsibility for the Games contrast strongly with the confident and sunny assessments of progress usually issued from Athens.

When Greece was chosen in 1997 to host the Games, the global sports event was supposed to infuse the country with a new optimism, cementing its place on the world stage, fuelling infrastructure projects and the local economy with an influx of tourists.

Since then the international climate has darkened considerably and threats of terrorist attacks have overshadowed what is meant to be a sporting celebration.

Many building projects, including the new airport and metro, have benefited Greece, but others have failed. International attention has focused on construction delays and security loopholes. Visitor numbers are down.

The Greek government's candour comes after a conservative administration succeeded the Socialists.

But Bob Carr, the premier of New South Wales, the Australian state that hosted the widely-applauded Sydney Games in 2000, has defended Greece's reputation, urging Australians to stop "knocking" the Athenian effort.

[evolved_rage]

spiralling costs had sent Greece's Olympic balance sheet into the red

Accounting...Its all greek to them!

[God luvs America]

They have done a terrible job....barely half the tickets for the events have been sold. The funny thing is Greece was bitchin and moaning after losing out to Atlanta for the '96 Games.

I've been to the Olympics four different times and after all the anti-Americanism in that country I hope Greece flops in August!

[kdot]

"would not have been so enthusiastic" to host the Games if it had known what was in store when it made its bid."

There are plenty of examples of cities gearing up for the Olympics. Surely, these were used as models for both cost and revenues. Considering the ruling allowing transgendered man-women athletes, the obnoxious terrorists, reduced international travel, and the terrible TV coverage of the games, it's not hard to see this year's olympics flopping.

I think the games began their decline when they broke up into 2-year events rather than having the entire competition in one calendar year, 4 years apart.

[Xenalyte]

The last Olympics in which I remember having any interest in was the 1980 one. My family fired up our wok and wokked all evening while watching. Pretty cool, but I was 11 at the time.

[rwfromkansas]

I watched them when young, but don't care about them now usually (watch more of the winter Olympics though).

[Dane]

There are plenty of examples of cities gearing up for the Olympics. Surely, these were used as models for both cost and revenues. Considering the ruling allowing transgendered man-women athletes, the obnoxious terrorists, reduced international travel, and the terrible TV coverage of the games, it's not hard to see this year's olympics flopping

Looks like Athens is turning into another Montreal(76). It was Peter Uebberoth in 84 who saved the Olympic movement, by not building huge and expensive money pit stadiums. The 84 Olympics are the last ones I watched with any interest. ABC back then actually cared about covering events live and not having a commercial break every other minute. Since NBC took over with their delayed braodcasts and excessive commercials and fluff, I have turned the Olympics off.

[Dane]

The last Olympics in which I remember having any interest in was the 1980 one.

That would be the 80 Winter games at Lake Placid and the unforgettable miracle on ice, US Hockey team.

NBC had the rights for the 80 Moscow Summer games, but due to the American boycott, NBC didn't show the games on US television.

[solitas]

...questioned publicly whether the Games were worth all the bother.

Duh! Too bad they woke-up too late.

...the country "would not have been so enthusiastic" to host the Games if it had known what was in store when it made its bid.

Hel-LO? didn't they ever ASK any of the previous countries about all the problems THEY had? It isn't like there weren't any terrorists in the world before they made their bid.

Hey New York/USA: smarten-up and drop YOUR bid - it will end up burying you (and us as a country).

[Xenalyte]

I was just trying to remember if it was winter or summer, and since my family is redneck as all hell, I figured if it were summer we'd have been grilling instead of wokking.

How you been? Haven't seen you around lately. :)

[solitas]

I think the games began their decline when they broke up into 2-year events rather than having the entire competition in one calendar year, 4 years apart.

What's the difference?

[zoyd]

Hey New York/USA: smarten-up and drop YOUR bid - it will end up burying you (and us as a country).

NY has plenty of infrastructure and capability to handle the Olympics without much burden. I like the prestige associated with hosting the Games. Being a Southern California native, the 1984 Summer Games were great. A good opportunity to show the world how we get things done.

If we, as a country, become afraid of hosting something like the Olympics, then we've lost more than we think.

[sandbar]

I HATE that Atlanta hosted the Olympics. The corrupt Atlanta Government made it so they were the only ones making money from it and the expense wasn't worth the cost. To make matters worse, it made everyone travel down here and go, "Wow, Atlanta is great, why don't we move here" and now we have a worse traffic problem than LA.

[Dane]

How you been? Haven't seen you around lately. :)

I'm doing fine, thank you for asking. Could have been the 84 Olympics in LA you were thinking about. That Olympics actually cost McDonald's a lot of money because of the soviet boycott.

McDonald's had a promotion where you would get scracth off cards and if the country that you scratched off won the event you got a free Big Mac for Gold, free fries for silver, and a free coke for bronze, IIRC. Well I guess McDonald's printed up a lot of the the cards with the USA getting the gold in events the soviets or the other iron curtain country's were expected to win, but with the soviet bloc boycott, the Americans won those events. The Simpsons even did a parody about it in one of their episodes.

I also remember the lefties getting all bent out of shape over ABC's "jingoistic" coverage of the 84 games also.

[Xenalyte]

Seems like I was in junior high at the time, which would definitely make it 1980, since I was a sophomore in 1984. Hmmm. Must ask Mom.

I love that Simpsons episode! Krusty gets so mad at shelling out free burgers that he vows to spit in every fiftieth one off the line, and Homer says, "I like those odds!"

[zoyd]

Okay, well, I'd have to challenge you on 'worse traffic problem than LA'.

It is a big expense, to be sure, and a hassle, but it's the Olympics. It's literally a world stage. Americans should enjoy hosting the Olympics as often as possible, simply as a natural extension of our greatness. I guess that sounds a little corny.

[norton]

"the spiralling costs had sent Greece's Olympic balance sheet into the red and that the country "would not have been so enthusiastic" to host the Games if it had known what was in store when it made its bid."

Wondering here how soon they will be "requesting" that the US not participate in these Olympics.
...Oops, the US and Israel.

[Dane]

Hey New York/USA: smarten-up and drop YOUR bid - it will end up burying you (and us as a country).

I don't think New York will get 2012. It will be either paris or London. My bet it will be paris. The IOC will say it's because the founder of the modern Olympic movement(De Courbertain) was french, but the lefty socialists who fill the IOC will give it as a thank you for the french being the socialist appeasers they are.

Fine they can give it to that hellhole of a city filled with arrogant bustards. I was there once and the best thing there was the Musee D'Orsay. Great collection of Van Gogh's and the museum didn't have the crowds like the Louvre.

[kdot]

I remember watching the olympics as a child/teenager and savoring every minute because I knew it was a once-in-4 year event. It was so special that I watched every event I could and was sad when it was over. Now, it seems like the olympics are continuous. I understand about the rotation of summer and winter games, but it seems like we are always gearing up for the next and complaining about the last. The coverage is so bad that the games have become anticlimactic. Politics and political correctness seem to play such a large role.

Maybe I'm waxing nostalgic, but it doesn't seem special any more.

[Wissa]

Maybe I'm waxing nostalgic, but it doesn't seem special any more.

I think the end of the cold war has a lot to do with that.