(Newswire.net — July 29, 2016) — Only days before the Olympic Games in Rio are due to start, the Australian Olympic team complained heavily about the accommodation in the village, CNN reports.
The village has not been finished on time and there is a major plumbing problem. The Australian delegation representative said that the conditions are awful and the accommodation is unlivable.
Being a good host, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, responded quickly and offered to get the Australian team a kangaroo so they’ll feel at home.
“We want them to feel at home here,” Paes said. “I almost feel like putting a kangaroo to jump up and down in front of their building.”
The Australian Olympic Committee refused the accommodation and is instead staying at a hotel. The Committee refused the kangaroo too.
“We do not need kangaroos, we need plumbers to account for the many puddles found in the apartments,” committee spokesman Mike Tancred told a Brazilian newspaper.
“Due to a variety of problems in the Village, including gas, electricity and plumbing I have decided that no Australian Team member will move into our allocated building,” Australia’s Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller said.
Listing the problems, Chiller include blocked toilets, leaking pipes, exposed wiring, darkened stairwells where no lighting has been installed and dirty floors in need of a massive clean.
According to the complaints, water has come through the ceiling in operations areas resulting in ”large puddles on the floor around cabling and wiring.”
In a statement, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) and Rio 2016 confirmed the issues and explained that the village was still several days away from being completed, CNN reports.
Referring to the British Olympic Committee representatives who said they will move into the village despite problems, Australian Committee Chiller said he envies those who can accept the accommodation conditions in the Olympic Village.
“Some (countries) are comfortable for their teams to move in, and I envy them,” said Chiller on Sunday.
Numerous safety concerns have been raised ahead of the 2016 Olympics on August 5. Beside the Zika virus alert, the concerns include the threat of international terrorism. However, the biggest threat in Rio is not the infected mosquitoes, nor the terrorists, but armed criminals that rob people on a daily bases.
A foreign athlete who lives in Rio told CNN a bizarre story about how he was robbed by police officers who threatened to arrest him if he didn’t withdraw money from two different ATM machines and give it to them.
Rio police were not available for comment.