Although nine cities are bidding for the right to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, according to O’Estado de S. Paulo newspaper’s Web site Rio’s Mayor Cesar Maia is only concerned about Paris.
In an interview on the newspaper’s Web site Maia said he believes that fears of terrorism in the other rival candidate cities could narrow the competition for the 2012 bid.
Maia asked, “just think of the news of the existence of the development of a chemical weapon in England for the use with a massive impact. How do you want to hold back that?
“And about New York we don’t even need to talk”, he said, adding that the likelihood of U.S. President George W. Bush being re-elected would be a heavy weight against a winning bid.
Rio’s competitors for the 2012 bid include Paris, Madrid, Istanbul, Leipzig, Germany and Moscow, London, Havana.
Rio is bidding for the second time, losing out to Athens for the 2004 Summer Games.
Regarding concerns that chronic drug-gang related violence could affect Rio’s chances Maia told the newspaper, “international specialists that have come here are absolutely calm. Our weak point (urban violence) cannot be compared with that of the first world, which is terrorism”.
