Talks of the 2016 Summer Olympics potentially being moved from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to London in the United Kingdom due to construction delays are absolutely untrue, according to the IOC. They flatly denied the report in an email to the Associated Press as reported by Time.com.
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said via e-mail: "Not a shred of truth to it. Simply a non-starter -totally without foundation and totally unfeasible."
The news came in the wake of a report from the London Evening Standard that London, which hosted the previous Olympic games, could be tapped to replace the Brazilian capital city as host of the 2016 Olympics. According to the said publication, London has been "secretly asked" to take over with some of the sporting venues from the 2012 Olympics having been dismantled or converted into other establishments.
Brazil has been getting a lot of criticism for construction delays which has drawn the ire of some IOC officials, in particular IOC vice president John Coates. The official was quoted as saying that the preparations of Brazil were "the worst I have ever experienced" although he said that there was no alternative to it. He was also quoted as saying that the IOC has formed a special group tasked to speed up the preparations for the event.
According to the London Evening Standard, a source said that the IOC's plan B was to come back to London. The source acknowledged that it is very unlikely for London to get back-to-back Olympics hosting but it was the most logical thing for the IOC to do, given the slow pace of preparations in Brazil.
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