The chiefs of Moscow’s Olympics bid committee expressed confidence on Tuesday that existing sport venues were already capable of hosting world-class events, as representatives from the International Olympic Committee continued to evaluate the Russian capital’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.
”We are capable of hosting the Games right now,” Moscow deputy mayor Valery Shantsev, who also heads the city’s Olympic bid committee said. ”A slight renovation of some venues is all we need.”
”I’m confident that all the arenas that we visited today impressed the members of the IOC panel,” he added.
His statement came during the second day of the IOC evaluation commission’s four-day visit to Moscow, the last stop of their tour of five cities vying to host the 2012 Games.
”We plan to build and renovate all the venues that would be necessary for staging the Games no later than in 2010,” Shantsev added.
”That will give all the federations a chance to hold a series of pre-Olympic tournaments here during 2010-2011.”
The IOC panel started its inspection at Moscow’s equestrian centre Bitsa, where the sporting manager of Moscow’s bid committee Dmitry Svatkovsky, Sydney Olympic pentathlon champion, gave a riding demonstration, clearing several barriers on horseback.
The 13-strong commission then proceeded by metro to the Luzhniki sports complex, where they inspected the five-star, 83 000-seater venue, and to the ice palace, where the world figure skating championships are currently being held.
Moscow’s 2012 bid committee also presented the sites for proposed construction of the Olympic village, media village and the Olympic broadcasting centre on the banks of the Moskva river in the northwest of the city.
Later in the day, the IOC evaluation commission split into three groups which also inspected venues at Moscow’s Krylatskoye and Tushino regions along with a planned sailing centre at Klyazma reservoir in the neighbouring suburbs of Moscow.
The IOC team was expected to spend most of Wednesday in discussion with Moscow bid officials on various other aspects of the proposal to hold the Games in the Russian capital, including finance and security.
The members of the committee will also meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday before taking a private tour of Moscow’s ancient Kremlin.
The panel was scheduled to wrap up its visit to Moscow by attending a horseback parade in the Kremlin Sobornaya square before joining Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov for a reception and dinner in the Patriarch Palace.
The IOC panel is due to hold a press conference on Thursday before departing from Moscow. – Sapa-AFP