IOC Dismisses Fears Over Rio 2016 Athletics Venue

(ATR) The IOC tells Around the Rings it has no major worries about completion of the Rio 2016 athletics stadium after the city’s mayor announced its closure due to roof problems.

"We are in regular contact with Rio 2016. There are still more than three-and-a-half years to go before the Games and we are absolutely confident that they will deliver," IOC communications director Mark Adams told ATR onWednesday.

Rio 2016 echoed the IOC’s sentiments in a statement sent to ATR.

"The Rio 2016 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games is fully confident that the Rio de Janeiro city government will take the necessary steps to ensure the Olympic Stadium is ready for the Games in over three years’ time and for the test events that precede them," the statement said.

"We are keeping in close contact with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on this subject."

The roof of the Joao Havelange stadium has been closed because of structural problems, according to reports from Brazil.

Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes told a news conference on Tuesday that a decision had been taken to close the stadium indefinitely because three different reports highlighted that the roof’s problems presented a risk for those attending public events in the venue.

"There was a risk, so I decided to close the stadium immediately until we have more details about the solution that we will need," he was quoted by the Associated Press.

"The stadium will stay closed for an undetermined period. If they give me a solution that will last a month, then it will stay closed for a month, if it takes a year, it will stay closed for a year.

"I will wait until a definitive solution if presented. We can’t play with something like this."

Paes claimed the roof problems were "simply not acceptable" for a stadium which only opened in 2007.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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