Preparations for the 2016 Summer Olympics in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro are the 'worst' ever seen, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice president said Tuesday.
The majority of the Olympic events, which begin in August 2016, will be held at four sites around Rio, but construction of some of the venues has not yet started, the IOC said.
''They are the worst I have experienced,'' said John Coates, IOC vice president, at an Olympics Forum in Sydney of Brazil''s preparations.
Having made six official visits to Rio, Coates said the ''unprecedented'' action of placing IOC experts within the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee would ensure the Games went ahead.
Addressing the comments, Rio mayor Eduardo Paes said Tuesday Rio had to take the criticism.
''We have to work with great zeal and dedication to get everything delivered correctly,'' Paes said.
Coates said that the situation in Rio was ''worse than Athens,'' which was lambasted repeatedly for its problematic lead-up to the 2004 Olympics.
Preparations for the 2016 Games have so far been beset by delays, a swelling price tag and lack of liaising between the different strands of government responsible for funding and organization.
More recently concerns have been raised about security in Rio, as ongoing run-ins between police and criminals in the city's many slums have continued to result in near-daily fatal shootings.
Only six stadiums were delivered on time, with many infrastructure projects scaled back or scrapped. Construction at the São Paulo stadium hosting the opening match stadium will go to the wire.
