IOC vice-president John Coates on Thursday backtracked on his scathing criticism of Rio de Janeiro`s Olympic preparations, saying the city could deliver an "excellent" Games and "things are moving in the right direction".
"Following my statements about the upcoming Games in Rio I want to underline that I still believe that the Rio Organising Committee and the people of Brazil can indeed deliver excellent Games in 2016," he said.
His toned-down comments came two days after he blasted Rio`s preparations as the worst he had ever seen.
AFP
First Published: Thursday, May 1, 2014, 14:14
