Bidding for the Games: Spanish Olympic Committee Member Defends Criticism of Rio, Security Plans in Copenhagen

Spanish Critic Stands By Rio Comments as Madrid Apologizes

A row between the Madrid and Rio de Janeiro 2016 bid teams escalated Wednesday night when Spanish Olympic Committee vice president Jose Maria Odriozola appeared to stand by his criticisms of the Brazilian bid.

Odriozola called Rio "the worst bid" of the four candidates vying for the 2016 Games in a report by Spanish news agency Efe. “The IOC is not going to risk it and take the games to a site where it doesn’t have total confidence that it can be done well,” he was reported as saying.

“I said what I said, I was just offering my opinion,” an unrepentant Odriozola told reporters through a translator after Madrid 2016’s evening press conference on Wednesday.

Though Odriozola does not have a specific role on the bid committee, his remarks reported earlier today upset Rio 2016 who labeled the criticism as “totally unacceptable.” The Brazilian bid has now lodged a formal complaint to the IOC Ethics Commission.

Bid CEO Mercedes Coghen offered profuse apologies at the news conference in an attempt to put the story to bed. “We want to apologize to Rio. We have always said all four cities have very good bids and can win this race but hopefully it will be Madrid as the winner,” she said.

She later told Around the Rings: “We apologize. With this we are finished. I am really confident they [the IOC Ethics Commission] are going to understand this.”

Odriozola’s sniping at Rio overshadowed what was supposed to be an event showcasing an athlete-friendly bid. It didn’t help Madrid’s cause that Odriozola was given free reign to speak to the press both before and after the briefing.

He was eventually ushered away from a media scrum after defending his comments on Rio. But the damage was done.

The Madrid 2016 team only arrived in Copenhagen late afternoon Wednesday, meaning there was limited time for rehearsals today before the late scheduling of the press conference at Hotel D'Angleterre.

But it was still the best-attended of the briefings held by any of the four 2016 finalists; around 300 seats were filled but Madrid 2016 supporters were mixed in among the press and broadcast media.

Mayor of Madrid Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón emceed the event and he also appeared keen to take the sting out of Odriozola’s criticism of Rio by praising the technical aspects of the rival bids, also including Chicago and Tokyo.

“If Madrid wins, it’s not because the others are bad. It’s because Madrid has made sure our bid is very, very good,” he told reporters.

The key bid figures with the exception of IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jnr attended. Sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky and Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, joined Coghen and several sports stars including Spanish cycling legend Miguel Indurain. All stood on a stage in what was an informal briefing with the mike being passed around the bid team members for their comments.

In what was likely a choreographed entrance, IOC honorary president Juan Antonio Samaranch Snr caused a stir when he strode to a front row seat attracting photographers in doing so. Introducing the former IOC chief, Mayor Ruiz-Gallardón said: “We are trying to be your students and learn from you and the values you have so fantastically taught the Olympic Movement.”

Madrid 2016 leaders were cheerful and seemed confident of the city’s chances ahead of the IOC vote on the host city Friday. They said it had been a long, hard race and that concerns cited in the IOC Evaluation Commission’s report of Sept. 2 had been addressed. That report said there was a lack of clarity over how the bid team would transition to an organizing committee if Madrid won the Games.

Blanco said the issue had been addressed, while question marks over Spain’s doping laws were answered in new legislation to comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency code.

“We have a bid that is completely prepared. I don’t think we have any deficiencies on any points,” he said.

Asked if the bid was feeling the pressure from the Obamas – America’s First Lady Michelle Obama arrived today, the U.S. President arrives Friday morning – Mayor Ruiz-Gallardón said: “Pressure? No. We have a sense of responsibility that we have had from the first moment.”

Lissavetzky noted that King Juan Carlos of Spain had taken part Wednesday in the bid’s rehearsal of its IOC presentation. “We are optimistic. There is not another inch of anything else we can do.”

Heads of State Security Plans

The organizing committee chief for the IOC Session and Olympic Congress tells ATR that Copenhagen will only come to standstill for a few minutes for the arrival of U.S. President Barack Obama Friday.

“The city won’t be locked down,” said Karl Christian Koch, secretary general of the Danish NOC. He said he expects Obama to arrive in the Danish capital around 7 Friday morning. IOC President Jacques Rogge opens the IOC Session at 8.30am, with Chicago kicking off the 2016 presentations at 8.45am.

Roads will only be shut for five or six minutes to transport heads of state to their hotels, he said, insisting that efficient and effective policing of the Olympic gathering would not have a major impact on local citizens, IOC members or the 1,000-plus media covering the Session and Congress at the Bella Center.

“We are trying to handle security the Danish way. We will close what is needed but not everything,” he said.

“Security forces have been screening all facilities we are using… the police are all over the city controlling who is coming in and out.”

First Lady Michelle Obama touched down in Copenhagen Wednesday morning. She was greeted by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and his wife Maggie. Mrs Obama headed to the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen to meet the American ambassador; she will be staying at his residence in the Hellerup area in the northern part of the city.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also came in today. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Japanese PM Yukio Hatoyama are due to arrive a short time before the 2016 presentations to the IOC membership.

IOC head of media operations Anthony Edgar will inform media about security arrangements for the Session at a 12pm briefing Thursday. There will be six lines for mag and bag checks at the Bella Center Friday morning, organizers confirmed.

Members of the press and broadcast media will likely be asked to arrive at the convention center Friday for pat down checks between 6am-7am. “It’s a good idea for media to be there in very good time,” said a member of the Danish organizing committee.

First Lady Lends Cheers at Chicago Dinner

U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama ended her first day in Copenhagen with an appearance at a reception hosted by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. The reception was hosted for hundred of Chicago supporters in Copenhagen, many who flew on a chartered United 747 on Tuesday. The guests Wednesday night also included Chicago TV star and impresario Oprah Winfrey.

A White House-provided transcript of Michelle Obama’s remarks is posted in the press release section of Around the Rings.

Mrs. Obama is scheduled to meet with IOC members at their hotel on Thursday.

President Lula Talks to Media Thursday

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, an unflagging supporter of the Rio de Janerio bid, will host a press conference early Thursday morning in Copenhagen. At this point he is the only head of state who will hold such a briefing for the press corps covering the 2016 election. Lula has regularly met with reporters throughout the Rio candidacy to convey his support for the bid.

He fervently believes that the Olympics would be of more importance to Brazil than any of the wealthier rivals which have all hosted the Olympics before. That was one of the key points reported from a session with reporters in New York last week where he attended the open of the U.N. General Assembly.

Lula arrived in Copenhagen Wednesday. He is reported to have cut short plans for a meeting with FIFA President Sepp Blatter in Brazil Tuesday, citing fatigue. Blatter and the FIFA Executive were meeting in Rio de Janeiro, host of the final match for the 2014 World Cup.

With reporting from Mark Bisson

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