Santiago Calatrava, the architect of the main Olympic sports complex, told an Athens daily newspaper that construction work at the main Olympic sports complex for the Athens Games will be finished just a day before the Opening Ceremony. He said work at the complex was on schedule despite massive delays that had threatened to cancel key parts of the project. His comments differed from promises made by Greek officials who said the stadium complex would be finished in mid July.
Greece’s top Olympic official, Fani Palli-Petralia, told the daily To Vima that Greece had failed to capitalize on the Games to attract foreign tourists to Athens where she said there was “no international Olympic atmosphere”. Instead, competition from neighbouring countries like Turkey and rising prices have contributed to a drop in visitors to Greece. She said, “there should have been a properly designed Olympic campaign. There isn’t. This campaign should have started two years ago”. About 5,000 hotel beds out of a total 62,000 in Athens have yet to be booked according to Athens’ hotelier association.
Athens’ residents will have to abide by certain regulations for access and parking and permits have issued for their vehicles during the Games. Athens 2004 handed 56,902 permits for access to municipalities to be distributed among eligible Athenians to take effect from August 2 to 31 depending on the competition schedule at each venue. Only those vehicles with a Venue Access and Parking Permit will be permitted in the Controlled Access and Circulation Zone.
According to the Greek government only Greek police officers will be allowed to be armed during the Games. Armed guards will be allowed only for the protection of heads of states and a specific clause concerns the security escorts for Greek and foreign VIPs for whom there is a special status in effect internationally. No one else, except the Greek security forces, will be allowed to be armed when inside the Olympic facilities and there will be no armed security escorts with the athletes during the Games.
