Rio's Olympic Planning 'Worst' I've Ever Seen: IOC Official

Brazil's efforts ahead of the 2016 Olympics are "the worst" International Olympic Committee VP John Coates has "ever experienced," he says. Construction of some venues hasn't even started, Coates notes, and IOC officials have been forced to join local organizers to plan the Games. The "hands-on role" is "unprecedented for the IOC, but there is no Plan B. We are going to Rio," he says, per the BBC.

Coates says that in terms of planning, these Olympics are "worse than Athens" in 2004, which also experienced delays. Among the issues are infrastructure delays, water quality concerns, and "social issues that need to be addressed" in Rio de Janeiro, he notes, via the Australian Olympic Committee. Staffers are inexperienced, and "no one is able to give answers at the moment." But "if it comes off—the first (Olympic) Games on the South American continent, in a magical city in so many ways—it'll be a wonderful experience for the athletes," he adds, per the AP. (More John Coates stories.)