Some years after Dublin was hilariously mooted as an Olympic venue and before Sydney has even begun, Athens 2004 organisers are coming close to receiving the red card from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with deadlines for completed work moved forward six months. The original IOC deadline to resolve an array of problems including accommodation, traffic, communications and security was May 2004 but the city was warned five months ago that the Games could be in danger unless organisation was drastically improved. It was regarded as the worst organisational crisis faced by an Olympic city in the 20-year reign of IOC executive member Jacques Rogge.

Rogge acknowledged "there is a new dynamism in the Athens team" but there was still a lot of work to be done. The remaining work was "a big task for a country of 10 million. The clock is ticking."