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| | Tuesday, October 24 Various feuds continue in Athens | |||||
| Associated Press ATHENS, Greece -- As the government tried to smooth over a new Olympics crisis, a dismissed senior executive of the 2004 Games indicated Thursday that Athens almost lost them earlier this year. Costas Liaskas, the former organizing committee executive director, said the 2004 team struggled to restore the International Olympic Committee's confidence in Athens after three years of government delay. "I am saying we twice won the games. Once in '97 and once now," Liaskas told Athens' Flash radio. "We overturned the red and yellow cards." He was referring to comments made earlier this year by IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who said the games were in danger and Athens faced the worst crisis he had seen in his 20-year term. Samaranch said the host city was stuck on the "yellow light" and slipping toward the "red light" danger zone. Samaranch's comments provoked reports the IOC was considering moving the games. Premier Costas Simitis responded by bringing back the original bid team to save them, with Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki appointed president and Liaskas a chief aide. Liaskas appealed for Angelopoulos-Daskalaki to come clean on problems faced by organizers. She has refused to make any public comment since the latest crisis broke. "I struggled until yesterday to convince the president to give a press conference to explain to public opinion about our work. It was not possible," Liaskas said. Simitis fired Liaskas on Wednesday after he went public and traded insults with the public works minister over who controls major construction projects for the games. New Democracy, the main opposition party, demanded a parliamentary debate on Athens' preparations to "discuss all the grotesque things happening in recent days." Liaskas' dismissal came less than one day after Simitis called a truce between organizers and the government, after chairing a five-hour meeting to patch up relations. The latest controversy cast a new shadow over Athens' preparations, which will be reviewed on Nov. 22 by an IOC inspection team headed by Jacques Rogge. It also heightened reports of a power struggle between Angelopoulos-Daskalaki and powerful ministers who have become entrenched in their position after nearly 20 years of Socialist party rule. "The public works minister is known to possess an ownership-like view and practice," Liaskas said. After IOC pressure the minister, Costas Laliotis, agreed to speed up the construction timetable and have the projects ready by the end of 2003 instead of May 2004. About 30 percent of the facilities have not been built yet. Full government control of the works could be a problem if Simitis decides to hold early elections -- set for April 2004 -- to avoid a conflict with the games in August. | ALSO SEE Fragile truce crumbles as 2004 official is dismissed IOC executive clarifies that Athens will keep Olympics IOC exec: Athens preparations in 'critical' stage Athens committee fills void left by firing | |||||
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