Flood of problems for Rome organizers

By Paul Virgo
ROME (Reuters) - Turning tennis courts into swimming pools is the least of Rome's worries ahead of the World Aquatics Championships next month.
Many facilities are not ready, prosecutors have been probing alleged irregularities at a related project and the organizing committee president threatened to quit after a row with the swimming federation.
"There's no use denying that we've had problems," Domenico Fioravanti, Italy's double breaststroke gold medalist at the Sydney Olympics and a championship sponsor, told Reuters.
"But adversity can create positive things. It's hard for something to improve if everything runs smoothly from the start."
Trouble began in May when Italian Swimming Federation President Paolo Barelli, a senator with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's party, asked Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno to sack organizing committee head Giovanni Malago.
When the request was rejected by fellow party member Alemanno, Barelli set his sights on having the powers of organizing committee director general Roberto Diacetti transferred to an official nominated by the federation.
A compromise was thrashed out at a board meeting last week, when it was decided that an administrator would be brought in to work alongside Diacetti.
The rift came after months of reports of delays, accompanied by images of structures clearly far from completion with the championships due to start on July 17 and finish on August 2.
Diacetti said this was not an issue at the main competition venue, the Foro Italico complex that includes the Stadio Olimpico soccer ground, as much of the work had not been scheduled to start until June.
This was partly because the installation of temporary pools in two of the complex's claycourt tennis stadiums, one of which is in the process of being rebuilt, had to wait until the end of the Rome Masters and Italian Open tournaments in May.
CRIMINAL PROBE
The preparation of other structures could not start until the Stadio Olimpico had hosted football's Champions League final later that month.
"From an aesthetic viewpoint, things cannot be ready yet," Diacetti told a news conference. "But the championships will take place at a shining Foro Italico that will present a beautiful spectacle of Rome."
While a last-minute flurry was planned for the Foro Italico, organizers are behind schedule with some complexes due to be used for training, including one on the coast at Ostia, where the open-water races will be staged.
"We are slogging away. Some of the worksite chiefs are having crying fits but we'll get there," said Claudio Rinaldi, the government commissioner in charge of approving facilities. Continued...
Source: Reuters