Delays at Rio 2016 Deodoro Park Spark Concerns

(ATR) With six months to go, Around the Rings learns of serious concerns about delays at Deodoro, the second Olympic hub where eight sports will be staged.

Renewed concerns about the delay-hit Olympic site arose at a meeting of the 28 summer sports federations with the IOC and Rio 2016 in Lausanne earlier this week.

"There is concern that there is a great deal to do between now and the Games to make Deodoro function at the level we would expect," Andrew Ryan, director of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations tells ATR.

Rio 2016 has fallen behind in preparations for the Deodoro cluster of venues that will host nine events at the Games.

As Games organisers look to trim costs across the project due to Brazil’s deepening financial crisis, ATR is told that the venues are mostly on track. But the transport system and work on spectator flows and facilities is still in limbo. There are increasing worries about planning and delivery of food and beverage services and recreational spaces to keep Olympic visitors refreshed and entertained between events.

Ryan describes the trouble spots as "real challenges", saying Rio 2016 is still busy working trying to understand how the Olympic park will operate and how to deliver a good experience for spectators.

Rio 2016 is doing modeling flows of spectators day by day and by session, he said "but we need to see detailed planning to understand that that is going to work".

"Absolutely, there’s the possibility to address all issues but there is no time to relax on this. It’s tight for time and people [Rio 2016] really have to move. There isn’t any longer time for slippage," he said.

Ryan added: "There’s no reason why anything should lead to a crisis or disaster. Everything can be addressed by a good team effort from all the stakeholders."

The Zika virus that is spreading through Brazil was another issue of debate at the IFs meeting with the IOC and Rio 2016, whose president Carlos Nuzman updated the federations along with sport director Agberto Guimarães. The key IOC officials present were sport director Kit McConnell and Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi.

According to Ryan, ASOIF and its 28 member sports are not overly concerned about the virus at this stage, and following the IOC’s lead.The Olympic committee is monitoring developments after the World Health Organization declared the Zika virus an international public health emergency earlier this week.

"We remain 100 percent confident that authorities in Brazil will have everything contained," Ryan said.

Reported by Mark Bisson

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.