Special Olympics delegation headed to riots in Greece
Alan Auil
On Thursday night we showed you the contingent that was heading to Athens Greece for the Special Olympics Summer Games. Well, that delegation left today but their intended destination has been brewing with riots over the past couple days. The City of Athens is under heavy police presence to contain a strike against a second recession threatening the country, augmented by a political crisis. With this serious issue at hand, the safety and security of the Belizean delegation is of importance and today Alan Auil, Chairman of the Special Olympics of Belize, says that the games are still on and that the Belizean athletes will be safe.
Alan Auil, Chairman, Special Olympics, Belize
“Our delegation did travel today, they’ll be arriving in Athens in the early morning about one o’clock in the morning on the nineteenth of June. Up to today I have received emails confirming that the games are on and there will be security, actually when our team gets in there they will be sent away from Athens. For the first four days they will be hosted by a family in one of the neighboring towns or villages as part of getting to know the people of Greece. All the riots I have seen on CNN are happening in the main city of Athens are they are directed against the government I guess they are having complaints about the local economy there. But when the games do commence on the twenty-fourth of June all the athletes and everybody will be held in an isolated village so there will be security, there will be only persons involved with the games will be in that location.”
Andrea Polanco
“The adults traveling with the contingent are they aware of the situation that’s there have they briefed the eight young students about the problems that are taking place there?”
Alan Auil
“Andrea, I can’t give you an answer to that I have been out of the country since Monday and just came in at about one o’clock this afternoon and I have been monitoring it myself but I was in Puerto Rico for the last five days. But I have been checking my emails from Greece and I am aware that the games are on and I have been monitoring the situation on the riots on the television so yuh know if our delegation doesn’t inform the athletes let me just say that there is a games organizing committee that will meet the team when they arrive at one o’clock on the nineteenth in the morning and they will certainly have a plan in place. So our people aren’t the ones solely looking after our eight athletes.”
The Belizean delegation left early because they were unable to secure a flight closer to June twenty-fifth, when the games are to begin.
