I saw on a TV news report that Greece is way behind schedule in their preparations for the Summer Olympics. It mentioned a few examples, notably the Stadium is still just a shell, construction having been delayed three years.
If a country is not prepared to host the Olympic Games on time, what happens? Can they shift locations?
Bumped to fish for overnighter answers.
This has never happened in the past, has it?
The locations are choosen way ahead of time, right? Did the news report say why construction was delayed?
There is no Plan B, according to Rogge’s recent statements. The Games will be held in Athens as scheduled. How well they’re held is the question now. The IOC had made threats to do so earlier, as a motivation tool against the general disorganization and nonmotivation in Greece that had kept the centennial games out of there in 1996, but that isn’t a possibility anymore.
Locations have been changed before, rarely. The 1976 Winter Games were slated for Denver until the voters turned down a tax bill to build the venues, forcing a relocation to Innsbruck, which had just held the games in 1968.
I don’t think * is * a Plan B. It’s never happened before. There have been problems, but they always got fixed at the last minute. Going to be interesting, that’s for sure. The security people must be pulling their hair out. I wouldn’t go anywhere near Greece on a bet during the Olympics. If the bad guys have a pocket nuke, this is where they will set it off. :eek:
The IOC and host city don’t actually sign a contract mandating what the city guarantees it will offer.
In other words, the city doesn’t actually have to build the shiny new stadium they’ve promised, and by the time the IOC starts threatening to move other cities will already have allocated their budgets without “hosting Olympics, 840 million kroner (or whatever)” in mind.
So, if Athens doesn’t buck up, it just means there will be a lotta pissed-off people in Athens come summer. There are still several stadia that can be pressed into service, though, and Greece will never run out of hotel beds.
The Athens Olympic Games will be a joke. No doubt.
A couple of days ago, the Public Power Corporation (http://www.dei.gr) anounced that some vital electricity sub-stations will NOT be ready for the Olympic Games. Bring your oil lanterns along!
Another debacle is the Calatrava roof of OAKA. (www.calatrava.com) So much money was spent designing it, but there is no time to build it!
Some major streets in the city of Athens are still under construction. These will probably be just in time ready…
Athens is bad even during normal times. Imagine what happens when 10 million people come to visit! Hell
They’ll just move the stuff to other venues, including out of Athens if need be.
If the new stadium isn’t ready, they’ll just use old ones and have to refund ticket money if there’s less seating. Play soccer at a high school if need be. It’ll be a disaster, but I can’t see them cancelling events.
For the Montreal Olympics in 80 the stadium was supposed to have a roof and a large tower. The stadium wasn’t finished to over a decade after. but enough was done to hold the games.
I vaguely recall that at some point last year the IOC threatened to hold the Olympics in Sydney again if a certain deadline wasn’t met by the Athens Olympic people. Obviously that didn’t eventuate, and, as already noted, there’s no doubt that the Games will be in Athens, even if they’re going to be crap.
Los Angeles is probably the only city in the world which can hold an Olympics on short notice. They have the facilities, accessability, and infrastructure. However, I think it it probably too late to change now.
Well, the problem is certainly more than hypothetical since Athens was recently refused insurance from the most respected underwriters Lloyd’s of London.
Doesn’t sound good to me…
Nitpick: The summer games at Montreal were in 1976, '80 was Lake Placid (winter) and Moscow (summer). The part about the stadium not being finished until much later is true, though.
I doubt this. There are probably a hundred cities which could host an Olympiad with their existing sports and tourism facilities. Granted, they might not be as grand as the IOCC would hope, but if it came down to a last minute switch it is a possibility.
I think you’d find that the people of London, Paris, Barcelona, and Sydney would disagree. Hell, New York could do it- the Meadowlands complex would be perfect.
From what I’ve heard, Greeks are notorious masters of finishing things at the very last minute - the rolling out the red carpet while your still walking on it sort of thing.
I have an expressed interest in this topic, and to verify everything said for the OP, there is no plan B. If the games suck the games suck. gazes despairingly at tickets
That said, also keep in mind that Greece has a newly elected prime minister, Costas Karamanlis, and it is my opinion that he is going to make a valiant effort to get the games underway. His newfound job and not-yet-developed reputation are riding on it. So far, all progress, or non-progress as has been pointed out, has been done under the hat of the old prime minister, Costas Karamanlis, so my hopes are up 
-The suburban train(connecting the airport with the city of Athens) won’t be ready
-Some basketball courts that were newly built are not complying with basketball regulations! (and won’t be used for the Olympics)
-Optical fibre infastructure will not be ready.
-There will be insuficient electric power.
I am glad that during the summer I have to stay in the UK. I will go to back Greece after the Olympics.
Manchester, England, could do it, seeing as they only recently held the Commonwealth Games.