Costa Liaskas, a former senior official in the Athens Olympic Organizing Committee (ATHOC) accused the committee of cultivating “virtual reality instead of substance and essence”, and its president Gianna Angelopoulos of inertia.
Liaskas, who was fired in October for publicly bickering with a government minister, told a radio station the committee’s number two man had resigned because his role was only “on paper”.
He said “the whole atmosphere aims to impress and manage a virtual reality instead of substance and essence. The committee president has an inertia stemming from the bidding days when image was perhaps as important as substance”.
Liaskas said Petros Synadinos, ATHOC’s managing director and the highest official to quit the team, left “as an act of dignity” after finding his role was limited. “Everyone must understand that this huge project cannot be done with puppets” he said.
