Posted on 11/28/2002 4:07:17 PM PST by knighthawk
THE fear of terrorism wrecking future Olympic Games has forced the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to set up a special $US52 million ($93.64 million contingency fund.
The fund would allow the IOC to keep functioning if Games revenues failed to materialise.
"International terrorism poses certain risks," IOC president Jacques Rogge told the 114th IOC Session in Mexico City.
"Armed conflict and problems of the economic crisis may all have an effect on the staging and quality of the Games.
"That is why we need to increase financial reserves to allow us to function if the Games are not allowed to take place or are badly organised."
The IOC already has financial reserves of $US140 million ($252.12 million), but Rogge said that an extra $US52 million would be raised for the contingency fund.
The IOC is also attempting to get insurance coverage for future Games but Rogge admitted that so far it had been unsuccessful.
"The insurance market is reticent to cover the risk," he explained.
Following the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States, security has become one of the major priorities for the IOC.
Unprecedented security was in place for this year's Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and massive security will be in place for the 2004 Athens Games.
Anyway, I watched exactly ZERO hours of the last Summer Olympics, and only a few hours of skiing and Military Pentathlon in the Winter games.
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