Rio 2016 Paints Sunny Picture for IOC - On the Scene

(ATR) Rio Olympic organizers tell the IOC the Games will not be impacted by budget cuts, venue delays or Zika.

Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman faced the IOC Executive Board in Lausanne Tuesday to report on preparations for the Games just five months away.

After meeting the IOC, Nuzman fielded reporter questions about the challenges ahead for Rio, trying to put the best face on the situation.

Only 47 percent of the 7.5 million tickets have been sold Nuzman, told the press but added the sales had increased "a lot… we are very confident."

Rio 2016 communications director Mario Andrada admitted that organizers needed to promote tickets more heavily. Electronic kiosks are to be installed around the city to encourage sales, he confirmed.

Sluggish ticket sales for the Paralympic Games are also a worry. Andrada acknowledged that "we need to improve sales of Paralympic tickets".

With some Games venues and infrastructure unfinished – notably the velodrome, aquatics center and the subway system – and concerns swirling around the Zika virus and anti-doping agency setup, the run up to the Olympics appears to have plenty of issues to solve.

But Nuzman spent nine minutes resolutely insisting to the press that no major hurdles block the path to the Aug. 5 opening ceremony.

"We are organizing with a calibrated, balanced budget," Nuzman said. "The athletes will have everything. There are no cuts that involve the Games, the athletes of field of play. That’s it."

For federations keeping an eye on Rio 2016 progress, issues remain. At the velodrome, the track has still not been installed – one month after it was slated to be put down. Nuzman said it would be ready for the test event but ATR reported a few weeks ago that the UCI is worried that the event is in jeopardy.

Nuzman insists the subway No.4 "will be ready" to "serve the Games".

But the project will go right to the wire. ATR has learned that there are still 300 meters of tunnel to dig before the rail track goes down and the metro stops are fitted out. If they are not ready, one contingency plan being considered is that it will run non-stop from Ipanema to Barra Olympic Park.

On the Zika virus, Nuzman said he gave assurances to the IOC that it would not be an issue come Games-time, later telling reporters that the World Health Organization "recognize no problems… for this reason we are confident and the position of IOC is the same".

Rio mayor Eduardo Paes and Sidney Levy, organizing committee CEO, spoke to the IOC by video link on Wednesday.

Questions from the IOC focused on Zika, venues, the budget and an Olympic law. The new law needs to be approved for the Brazil anti-doping agency to become compliant with WADA rules on the use of the laboratory. Rio 2016 hopes to pass a presidential decree by the March 18 deadline set by WADA.

In his message to the IOC Paes addressed cost reductions across the Olympics. He said there would be "no cuts on anything related to athletes or the field of play or food and beverage", according to Andrada.

Levy offered reassurance to the IOC about the spread of the Zika virus.

"Zika is a global problem and a tragedy for Brazil," Andrada summed up. "For the Games due to the measures taken and [winter] environment, the WHO believes Zika will not be a major factor."

The Rio 2016 communications chief told the media briefing that organizers were working hard to ensure "no double standards in the Olympic Village". Air-conditioning will be used throughout and screens in certain places to ensure mosquitoes are kept to a minimum.

As World Sailing battles with the city and state of Rio to clean up the sewage-tainted waters of Guanabara Bay, there were no questions from the IOC about water quality. Andrada said this may have been because Rio 2016 "proactively" addressed the issue in its presentation.

Andrada confirmed the testing regime for the waterways in the buildup to Rio Games, which will include regular, nearly daily, checks after April and testing every day during the Games.

The IOC also seems unconcerned about Brazil’s political crisis. With Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff facing impeachment proceedings amid the country’s financial turmoil, Nuzman confirmed there were no IOC questions on the issue.

He also flatly denied any tensions between the three different levels of government were affecting Rio 2016’s progress to the finish line. "We have no impact. All of them are together since we won. This is the truth," he said.

How hard are the last meters to the Games?, he was asked.

"We will be on time and get a medal," Nuzman replied.

Written by Mark Bisson in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.