IOC 'makes secret plea' to use London 2012 Olympic venues for Rio Games

Striking workers for the 2016 Summer Games dispute benefits and working conditions. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

The International Olympic Committee is so worried that venues will not be ready for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro that they have been making inquiries about which of London's 2012 Olympic venues could be brought back for use, according to a report in the London Evening Standard.

The IOC quickly shot down that report, with IOC spokesman Mark Adams saying there is ''not a shred of truth in it," according to the Associated Press.

Adams told the AP that relocating the games is ''simply a non-starter - totally without foundation and totally unfeasible.''

The Rio Games have been plagued with numerous issues, including escalating costs and negligence accusations. The games are scheduled to start August 5, 2016 and Brazil is also set to host the World Cup month. Last month, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said that Brazil is “not ready” for the soccer tournament.

IOC vice-president John Coates has said that Brazil's preparations are "the worst I've experienced."

London has hosted the Olympics before in an emergency. In 1908, the games in Italy were forced to move because of an eruption at Mount Vesuvius.

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More from the Standard:

 “At a comparable planning stage in 2004 Athens had done 40 per cent of preparations on infrastructure, stadiums and so on. London had done 60 per cent. Brazil has done 10 per cent — and they have just two years left. So the IOC is thinking, ‘What’s our plan B?’

“Obviously, the answer would be to come back to London. It’s very unlikely but it would be the logical thing to do.”

But the plan for “London 2016” would be a worst-case scenario because many of the other 2012 sites have already been converted for public use and transforming them to competition-standard venues again would cost billions and cause major disruption for the clubs currently using them

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