IOC learning their lesson: Verbruggen

The International Olympics Committee say the last-minute hiccups ahead of the opening ceremony have been a learning experience

BEIJING // The Beijing Games preparations have been an extraordinary experience but the crises that marked the final run-up are important lessons for the future, the International Olympic Committee said yesterday. Speaking on the day of the final progress report for Beijing, three days before the Olympics open, IOC chief inspector Hein Verbruggen said the IOC came out richer in ideas.

"Overall, this has been an incredible, extraordinary human experience," Verbruggen said. "We are here to celebrate an unforgettable moment in Olympic history." Verbruggen said Beijing had kept a fast pace throughout the preparations but it was sudden crises that caused concern. The international torch relay protests that could have led to a sudden Games boycott, Internet censorship and other incidents must be analysed carefully and lessons drawn, he said.

Violent protests, opposing China's human rights track record and its policies in Tibet and Sudan's Darfur region, tainted the international torch relay for weeks. "The decision [to award the Games to China] could not be without challenges. We were aware of these although sometimes underestimating some of them," Verbruggen said. "In the future we need to be more hands on and pro-active," he added. "We cannot allow to be hijacked by pressure groups and vested interests."

Senior IOC member Dick Pound said Canada came close to snubbing the Games because of the protests. "In my part of the world we were in full boycott mode," Pound told Verbruggen. "Public opinion and political opinion was moving towards an actual boycott of the Games and it was only the earthquake tragedy that diverted attention from what could otherwise have been something very, very serious," he said. "This came very close to becoming a disaster."

At least 70,000 people were killed in the May 12 earthquake centred on the south western province of Sichuan, prompting an outpouring of sympathy and donations. * Reuters