Olympic Problems
by Artem Horich

 The cost of staging the Athens Olympic Games has blown out by more than ˆ1 billion ($1.7 billion), mainly to cover soaring security and last-minute construction costs. As an indication of how crippling the 2004 Olympic budget is for the Greeks, the Sydney budget totaled $2.6 billion, which included an injection of $140 million three months before the Games opened. But the Greek Finance Minister, Giorgos Alogoskoufis, said the cost of the Olympics had now escalated beyond ˆ6.5 billion, from its original $US5.5 billion ($7.7 billion). The conservative party which swept to power in March 2004 has blamed the socialist party for the Olympic crisis.

 Athens resembles a construction site, with workers on shifts round the clock building railway stations, pavements, roads and nearly half of the Olympic venues. The cost of security has doubled to $1.7 billion, nearly four times that of the Sydney Olympics. Athens newspapers have also reported that the US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, has written to Congress to seek $US4.5 million "to comply with the request by the US Olympic Committee to send federal agents who will provide support in security matters for the protection of US athletes".

 The US wants 150 secret service agents in addition to armored vehicles, equipment and marine back-up to protect its 550 athletes at the Games. The US, Britain and Israel are classified high risk and the requests by those countries for armed guards is still being negotiated with Greek police. Some foreign security personnel will be able to be absorbed into the Hellenic Police to overcome sovereignty issues about foreigners carrying arms.

Environment

Recognizing the mutual relationship between nature and the human element while preparing for the ATHENS 2004 Games, the Environment mark symbolizes the unity of humans and nature in one body. Through various initiatives and programs ideal environmental conditions for the hosting of the Games are planned.

The Olympic Green Spaces Program - More than one million large bushes, 290,000 new trees and 11 million new shrubs will be thriving throughout Athens. When the 2004 Olympic Games are over, the environment of Athens and the surrounding region will have benefited drastically.

Waste Management and Recycling Initiatives - Within the ATHENS 2004 headquarters, 108 tons of paper have been recycled, saving 1.836 trees; the amount of water needed for paper pulp treatment has been reduced by 3,402,000, and cut energy consumption by 442,800 kW. Thus, 272,17 cubic meters of landfill space have been saved.

Environmentally Friendly Transportation - To minimize air and noise pollution and any other pollution related to the use and maintenance of the Olympic fleet, the Olympic Village as well as all competition and non-competition venues will benefit from the use of environment-friendly vehicles. By comparing the atmospheric emissions in the 6-year periods before and after the implementation of a state program (see table), the Ministry for Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works of Greece claims to have achieved a significant improvement in the air quality, ranging from 13.5% for O3 to 47.3% for SO2. According to the Ministry, reduction is significant as vehicle fleet has increased by 68% in the years 1993-2000, and fuel consumption has increased by 31% for petrol and 36% for diesel in the same period.

 

POLLUTANT	AVERAGE CONCENTRATION 1987-1993	AVERAGE CONCENTRATION 1994-2000	REDUCTION (%)
CO (mg/m3)	6.8	5.2	-23.5%
NOX (μg/m3)	187	138	-26.2%
NO2 (μg/m3)	114	96	-15.8%
SO2 (μg/m3)	74	39	-47.3%
Smoke (μg/m3)	82	69	-15.9%
O3 (μg/m3)	74	64	-13.5%

 

Sponsors and Licensees Environmental Performance- ATHENS 2004 mission is the improvement of environmental performance of sponsors and licensees before, during, and after the Games. This generally involves improving the corporate image of sponsors and licensees, by considerably changing the usual Greek and international corporate approach regarding environmental issues, and educating the general public. To achieve this, ATHENS 2004 assists in developing products or installations in compliance with acknowledged environmental certification systems (ISO, EMAS, and ECO-LABEL); it funds and financially supports events and environmental activities as signature events; it submits tenders for sponsoring and licensing to address environmental considerations in relation to product manufacture, use, and disposal.

To further maximize the industry's contribution to the environmentally friendly performance of the Games, the Committee has established the Sponsors Network for the Environment and is working to ensure that design and packaging of products include educational messages about the environment wherever possible. Biodiversity Initiatives - In addition, ATHENS 2004 promotes environmentally friendly construction materials, new energy technologies and comprehensive protection of natural resources.

Do you know that…

• Before the Games start, more than 1 million large bushes, 290,000 new trees and 11 million new shrubs will be thriving throughout Athens.
• Four and a half million copies of printed material, weighing 55 tons, and thousands of parcels of electronic material have been mailed from Greece to 202 countries.
• During the Games, 50,000 meals will be prepared daily at the Olympic Village, utilizing 100 tons of food.
• Revenue generated from the sale of ATHENS 2004 official licensed merchandise is addressed to the funding of the Games and the Greek Olympic team.
• Hyundai (Grand National Sponsor) will provide a fleet of environmentally- friendly electric cars to accommodate certain 2004 transport needs.
• During the Olympic Games, the Olympic Village will provide accommodation and free-of charge services to 16,000 athletes and team officials.
• Only Torchbearers are entitled to purchase the torch, upon completion of their portion of the Olympic Torch Relay.
• For the first time in 56 years, the Olympic flame passed through London.

·         Olympic organizers have issued a decree that prohibits groups of people attending the forthcoming Olympic Games in Athens if they wear T shirts and other clothing bearing the logos of companies or organizations that are not sponsoring the event. The theory is that they want to keep the Games clear of advertising. What gives the right to dictate to people what they will wear? How to define a non-sponsor; e.g. does the wearing of a T shirt with an NGO logo constitute a breach of the rules? The Games organizers claim to be protecting the Games from commercialization. In reality one or more of the official sponsors, fearful of a poor turnout for these Games, have "strong-armed" the organizers and forced them into issuing this absurd ruling. Advice to people attending the Games is to show how absurd the ruling is. 

·         Athens is an ancient imperial city, and previously undiscovered archaeological treasures are being unearthed by the final push for the completion of construction. The treasure troves of tombs, pots etc. being discovered are being put on display in open air museums. Those finds which cannot be moved to indoor museums are left in situ, and are protected by glass; they can be freely viewed by anyone who is in the vicinity.

·         The Worst Kept Secret In Olympic History The secret about what will happen at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games which are being held in Athens has, to put it mildly, leaked almost everywhere. The opening ceremony will be water based. The floor of the Olympic stadium will be flooded during the opening ceremony, on the 13th of August. In addition to the water feature, the Olympic flame will be suspended in a cauldron above the stadium. As with the all previous opening ceremonies, this one will be the most expensive ever. But, does expensive necessarily mean good?

• In the true Olympic spirit, the hotel workers of Greece staged a 24 hour strike early July. Their grievance is simple, more visitors for the Olympic Games in Athens means more work; therefore they want more money. In a splendidly irrelevant gesture, the Union of Greek Archaeologists went on strike as well yesterday. They want money as well from the Olympics. Now, it is the turn of the bus drivers and other transport workers to try to grab a slice of the pie. There is even a rumor that the air traffic controllers will strike. It seems that the Olympics this year are being viewed by many as a humungous cash cow. Unfortunately, there is every danger that it may in fact be a still-born calf.

·         The Road to Athens, a race to celebrate the Athens Olympic Games has been cancelled. The Road to Athens, which claimed to be capable of spreading a universal message of "Peace, Love and Friendship" etc, was to have taken place across 6 countries and over 50 cities. It would have involved 21 Arab athletes, the symbolism of this event in light of the current world situation is therefore clear. However, money talks these days; the withdrawal of a key sponsor sunk the race without trace.

·         It seems that ticket sales are not going that well, with some 3 million tickets out of 5 million yet to be sold. Although half of the deluxe hotels have been reserved for the "usual suspects" (ie those dignitaries and their entourage who always go to Olympic "shindigs"), it is reported that other hotels are not filling up as hoped for. Private home owners, who signed up to rent their homes out during the Olympic Games, are also reported to be having trouble finding customers. It seems that out of 20000 homes available for rent, only 900 have been booked.

·         Athens 2004 caused problems for one of the earth's less annoying creatures, the humble turtle. In addition to hosting the Olympics, Greece's other claim to fame is the fact that it also hosts the largest nesting population of Mediterranean loggerhead turtles, whose nesting beaches have become the victim of the cut back of costs, in view of the humungous costs of the Olympics. Staff at the National Marine Park, on the island of Zakynthos, fed up with not being paid for 9 months stopped work in May. Unfortunately for the turtle, its hatching cycle coincides with the tourist season and this year's Olympic Games. Once the Greek government indicated that it couldn't "give a toss" about the turtle; the local population started erecting unauthorized buildings and are holding speed boat races; not very nice for the poor old turtle! The Olympics are only around for a few weeks for people to "enjoy", the turtles should be (if the Greek government did its job) around for ever for people to enjoy. Shall we not get our priorities right?

·         With construction still not completed, there has not been a chance to test security systems and back up plans; which are meant to deter, and contain, any possible terrorist attack. The command center, which co-ordinates information flow from the surveillance cameras dotted around Athens, will not be up and running until the middle of July. Hence, those operating it will not have had a decent period to train in using it. Other sites have yet to have surveillance cameras installed, and have not been tested to see how they would handle events (both expected and unexpected). To put this into context, although the cost of the security is $1.2BN (far higher than any Olympic Games held before) security systems in previous Olympics were up and running one year beforehand.

·         The forthcoming Games have given the Greek authorities an excuse to do what very government in the world wants to do, namely to spy on its citizens. The Greek government passed an anti terrorist bill; and as a result of that, the streets of Athens are literally festooned with cameras and surveillance/listening devices. There is the lingering doubt in the minds of the citizens of Athens that these "security measures" may well be left "in situ" when the Games are over. Reports show, certain high ranking officials in the Greek authorities have already floated the idea that "it would be a shame to waste the hard work, and money expended in making Athens a national security capital". Monitoring people for their own protection does seem to have an uncomfortable Orwellian echo!

Cities Bidding for the 2012 Olympic Games

Istanbul, Turkey
Leipzig, Germany
London, England
Madrid, Spain
Moscow, Russia
New York City, USA
Paris, France
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil