Pan Am Games -- 2011 Crisis Averted? Charges Fly in 2015 Race

2011 Pan Am Games Not at Risk Say Leaders

The president of COPAG – the 2011 Pan Am Games organizing committee for Guadalajara – says a financial crisis is now averted after talks Thursday with Pan Am Sports Organization President Mario Vazquez Rana.

COPAG President Andres Garin said that the state government of Jalisco will cover the $50 million guarantee demanded by PASO after the mayor of Guadalajara refused to endorse the guarantee.

Juan Pablo de la Torre took over as mayor this month after his predecessor Alfonso Petersen left the post – as well as the presidency of COPAG – to become Secretary of Health for Jalisco state. A new mayor, elected in July, won’t assume office until Jan. 1.

Along with city hall issues, the search is underway for

a new location for the Pan American Village. Plans to build a village in the center of Guadalajara were abandoned in September without a backup proposal. Three new locations are now being considered for the village, home for 5,000+ athletes.

In remarks Wednesday to the Jalisco legislature, Governor Emilio Gonzalez Marquez said that a decision would be made after consultations next week during the Pan American Sports Organization general assembly taking place in Guadalajara.

Gonzalez appeared at the chamber of deputies to make an appeal for $600 million still needed for sports facilities such as athletics stadium and aquatics center.

Gonzalez insisted that the games are not at risk and that the state government supports the project

Charges Fly in 2015 Race

The Toronto 2015 bid for the Pan American Games is coming under attack from the other two bid cities located in Latin American countries.

Toronto is competing for the Games against Bogota, Columbia, and Lima, Peru. The Pan American Sports Organization general assembly will convene next week in Guadalajara, Mexico to select the host city for the 2015 Games.

The president of the Colombian Olympic Committee Baltasar Medina accused Toronto 2015 of providing gifts and other benefits to national Olympic committee members in the Caribbean Islands, reports the Associated Press.

In an interview with Around the Rings Toronto 2015 Chair David Peterson said he did the accusations are news to him.

"I don't know anything about it. I have not heard anything about it," Peterson said. "It goes down to the last minute and there are all sorts of things."

Everth Bustamante of the Columbian Institute of Sports noted that the Caribbean votes could be a deciding factor in a tight race between Toronto and Bogota, reports the newspaper

El Tiempo .

"The votes of the islands will be key. The island group of Anglophone and Francophone are votes that we have," Bustamante said.

Toronto's right to host the Games is also coming under attack. Ivan Dibos, Lima 2015 advisor and senior IOC member, voiced his opposition to the Toronto bid in an interview with Around the Rings earlier in the week.

"I do not know why Toronto is bidding (Pan American Games)," Dibos said. "They are good enough to compete for the Olympic Games. They should leave this for developing countries and emerging countries like Columbia and Peru. We need the games to improve our quality."

Toronto bids for the 1996 and 2008 Olympics came up short. Peterson views Olympic comparisons for his city in a positive light.

"If that is a compliment then I will take it as a compliment because I think a lot of people will say that we performed at a very high level and we take everything seriously," Peterson said.

Written by Ed Hula and Sam Steinberg