IOC Cagey on Rio 2016 Rugby Preps -- On the Scene

(ATR)The International Olympic Committee is "reasonably cautious" about the Rio 2016 Rugby sevens arena, according to Rugby Europe president Octavian Morariu.

The IOC member was speaking to ATR at the IRB World Rugby Conference in London on Monday. Concerns have been raised about the slow progress of the Rio Games preparations, particularly in the Deodoro cluster where rugby will be hosted.

Construction in Deodoro only began in August, less than two years to go until the opening ceremony.Morariu admitted that Rio 2016 organizers were behind schedule but that there were no immediate concerns.

"It was a late start, we all know that, but we are confident that we will catch up in good time so the arena should be ready. We don’t have particular worries at this moment in time, but we just need to monitor it very, very, very closely and carefully.

"But today there’s no particular issue in the preparation of the arena. We are reasonably cautious ... At a board level, we don’t have a red alarm on it yet."

The IRB, who from Tuesday will be known as World Rugby, were far more optimistic in their outlook on the Games and how preparations have advanced.

Bernard Lapasset happily told ATR that he was "confident" that the venue, which will also host modern pentathlon, will be ready to host a great competition.

"We are good. We are on track," he said. "We were in Nanjing in the summer for the Youth Olympic Games. It was a first test event for us in rugby sevens in the Olympic format. That was great, and now we are in Rio and we have a great preparation and I’m very confident in that. We opened the door for the facilities to be a temporary stadium. It will be fantastic.

"It will be a good capacity for us and a good capacity for the first test in an Olympic Games. The Rio organizing committee work very well. I’m sure Deodoro will be a great region for the fans.

"I’m very pleased. I was in Rio two months ago, and I met the guys. It’s been a very good achievement so far by the organizing committee."

Rugby sevens is only slated to appear in Rio and at the Games in Tokyo in 2020, but Lapasset hoped the relationship with the Olympic movement would continue beyond that.

He said, "I think rugby sevens is a part of the tradition for the Olympic Games. It’s fantastic for the spirit of the Olympic Games. I’m sure we will be around for a long time.

Mark Egan, the IRB’s head of competitions and performance, explained how they were not initially happy with the venue first proposed by Rio 2016 - which could be an added reason for the delay - but he was content now that their vision had been put across to the organizers.

"We got news last week that the redesign we requested that we’ve been working on for the last six months has been approved by the organizing committee. We wanted to impress upon the organizing committee that the atmosphere inside a rugby sevens venue is vital to the success of the event and we wanted a more enclosed venue and we had to change to orientation of the pitch to allow that to happen.

He added "even though they’re behind schedule, they are beginning to pick up on time and at the end of the day you can build a temporary venue in six months if you have to.

"So we’re not as concerned as maybe some other sports are but we have to keep the pressure on."

Reported by Christian Radnedgein London

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