Rogge to unveil Athens' torch

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge will return to Athens next week to unveil the torch for the 2004 Olympics and look at the city that is scrambling to complete venues and facilities in time for the games.

Rogge, who will be accompanied by two senior IOC officials, will take a helicopter tour of venues under construction and discuss transportation problems and the state of accommodation in the crowded Greek capital.

But his three-day visit starting Jan. 13 will not be an inspection, even if he is accompanied by IOC Athens coordination committee head Denis Oswald and IOC sports director Gilbert Felli.

"We'll go through the different issues and see where we stand," Oswald told The Associated Press on Friday. "It's always construction and transport, accommodation, all these general issues ... what happened since our last discussion."

With just 19 months left until the torch lights the Olympic flame to start the games, Rogge will make just his third visit to the city he once supervised. Rogge handed over that responsibility to Oswald after he was elected IOC president in mid-2002.

Athens organizers and Rogge will unveil the design of the 2004 torch on Jan. 15.

Although the trip is not an inspection, IOC officials said they want to examine a number of issues.

They include a review of whether to go ahead with plans to build an elaborate dome-like roof on the main Olympic complex, or OAKA. A planned Olympic showcase, it is uncertain if there is enough time remaining to build it.

Oswald also said there needs to be a confirmation on a decision to host the Athens soccer games at the decaying Karaeskaki stadium in Piraeus. World soccer's governing body, FIFA, has backed the choice.

Time, however, is also a problem at that venue. FIFA said in December that the government promised construction would begin by Jan. 10. It has yet to start.

Delays at the other main Olympic sports complex, at Athens' former Hellenikon international airport, will also be discussed, Oswald said.

A contractual dispute between construction companies over a basketball arena had delayed work, but Oswald said a court decision has "cleared the way."

"We will assess the progress which has been made since our last visit and see whether work is progressing as expected," he said.

Rogge, Oswald and Felli will also a meet with Dora Bakoyianni, Athens' new mayor. Oswald wants to meet with all the mayors in towns that will host Olympic events.

"It is important that they must be involved and that we must have full cooperation," he said. "I think it's important we have close contact with the mayors."

One such case involves the conservative mayor of Paleo Faliron, a seaside suburb that is the site of a tram line connecting central Athens with the Hellenikon sports complex.

Mayor Dionissis Hatzidakis opposes the tram line, but agreed to meet Oswald and discuss the issue after the IOC official mentioned the problem to the head of the conservative opposition party.

"The argument that it would cut the city from the sea, to me is not serious, because what you have now is a road where you have one car after the other ... the road with the traffic at the moment is cutting the city much more from the sea than the tram," Oswald said.

 

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