IOC vice president says Brazil Olympics prep worst ever

In an unusually blunt public warning Tuesday, a vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called the preparations for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro "the worst I have experienced."

John Coates, who has made six trips to Brazil as part of the IOC's coordination commission for Rio, said the Brazilians, who beat out Spain to win their Olympic bid less than five years ago, are behind schedule and that there is no backup plan to move the games anywhere else.

"We have become very concerned, they are not ready in many, many ways. We have to make it happen and that is the IOC approach, you can't walk away from this," Coates said. 

The 2016 Games, which will be the first played on the South American continent, have been plagued by delays, rising costs and bad communication between different levels of the Brazilian government and organizers, prompting criticism from international sports federations.

Brazil has also come under fire from football's world governing body, FIFA, for long delays in the construction of stadiums and other infrastructure and the overdue completion of venues for the World Cup, which kicks off in June. But two years out from the 2016 Olympics, that situation appears even bleaker. 

Attending an Olympic forum in Sydney, Coates told delegates that construction had not commenced on some venues, infrastructure was significantly delayed and water quality was also a major concern. And until recently, over 2,000 construction workers, who were seeking higher wages and more benefits, had been striking at the main Olympic park outside of central Rio.

"I think this is a worse situation than Athens," said the Australian, referring to preparations for the 2004 Games, which were also plagued by construction delays.

"In Athens, we were dealing with one government and some city responsibilities. Here, there's three," Coates said. "There is little co-ordination between the federal, the state government and the city — which is responsible for a lot of the construction."

Amid problems with stadium construction, labor unrest and security in other parts of the country, thousands of troops were deployed to Rio's slums in February in an attempt to stamp out drug gangs and criminals.

"This is against a city that's got social issues that also have to be addressed; a country that's also trying to deal with the FIFA World Cup coming up in a few months," Coates said.

The IOC announced a series of measures earlier this month to kick-start lagging preparations, including the "unprecedented" step of employing extra monitors and sending project managers and teams of experts.

Although there is the same number of Rio organizing staff as London had two years before the 2012 Games, the staff in Rio lacks experience, Coates said.

Earlier this month, the IOC drew up a list of urgent recommendations aimed at speeding up the lagging preparations. They included the creation of three task forces with a number of aims such as easing the fears of an increasingly angry population, who have protested at the costs of both the Olympics and the World Cup.

In a rare display of unified, open criticism against an Olympic host, 18 sports federations publicly aired concerns earlier this month over Rio's preparations, with some sports asking about "Plan B" contingencies.

The IOC has decided to send a senior troubleshooter, IOC executive director Gilbert Felli, to Brazil as part of a series of emergency measures to tackle the delays threatening the games. Coates said other experienced, high-level staff would soon be appointed.

For his part, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes fired back last week at the complaints by sports federations, saying they were making too many unnecessary demands.

Paes said the federations were asking for too many "large things" that won't be used by the city after the Olympics. 

Al Jazeera and wire services