Olympic Phone Tapping Revealed

It seems that the 2004 Olympic Games, which were held in Athens, were not as harmonious as the organisers would have you believe.

It has been revealed that persons unknown were tapping the phone lines of the Greek Prime Minister, and others, during the course of the games and beyond.

The mobile phones of Greek prime minister, Costas Caramanlis, and other top government and security officials were tapped by unknown individuals during the Athens 2004 Olympics and for nearly a year after.

Government spokesman, Theodoros Roussopoulos, said:

"The people [under surveillance] included the prime minister himself and other members of the government."

In fact around 100 people were tapped, including the ministers of foreign affairs, defence, public order and justice. Most of Greece's top military and police officers were also targeted, as were foreign ministry officials, a US embassy number and the prime minister's wife, Natasha.

Mr Roussopoulos, backed by public order minister Giorgos Voulgarakis and justice minister Anastassis Papaligouras, claimed that it had not been possible to identify who was behind the surveillance.

Quote:

"It was an unknown individual, or individuals, who used high technology."

However, rather intriguingly, the phone tappers used interceptors traced to the vicinity of the US embassy.

Greece was watched by western anti-terrorist experts, as it prepared to host the Olympics. Washington had been vocal in its demands for Athens to tighten security ahead of the Olympic games.

The Giant Olympic Sponge

Much like a giant sponge, the London Olympics 2012 is expected to drain worthwhile projects and charities of much needed funding; as companies tip all their resources into the Olympic bucket.

Charities and sports and cultural events throughout Britain, are prepared to lose out as the cash call by London's Olympics committee for £750M drains them of their normal sources of income.

The question is whether the vast sums of money that companies spend on Olympic advertising, which ends up financing the IOC, is really earning them any additional revenue.

Italy To Relax Drug Laws

Good news for all of those Olympic athletes, who need a little chemical stimulus to help them achieve their peak performance, it seems that the Italian government will relax their drug laws for the duration of the Winter Olympics in Turin.

This decision has been greeted with much relief by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), as they had visions of their prized athletes being arrested and jailed for drugs offences.

Jailed athletes are not very good for the Olympic brand, or for the lucrative sponsorship deals that the IOC lives off.

The IOC rules allow athletes to be disqualified for doping offences, but not arrested. The Italian law, unamended, was far stricter; doped athletes would have faced prison sentences of up to 3 years.

Additionally, the Italian health ministry earlier this month had given its anti-doping commission full responsibility for dope testing at all international competitions in Italy.

That would have meant that a body that would not be swayed by the IOC or Italian government would have been in charge of testing; something that the IOC could never have tolerated.

Mario Pescante, Italy's under-secretary for sport and supervisor for the Winter Olympics, said that a deal had been made with the IOC over doping.

Quote:

"We've reached an agreement, which has been approved by the president of the IOC. Italian law will be respected with regards to penal sanctions, but at the same time we will be guided by Wada's list of banned substances."

The agreement includes the setting up of a task force to ensure a good compromise between Italian law and IOC rules. The task force will include IOC members, Wada officials and representatives of games organiser Toroc.

So there you have it, Italian law has been compromised; because Olympic athletes, and their sponsorship contracts, are above the law!

Competitors' Blogs Banned

Those Olympic competitors who are hoping to update their fans with an inside view of the Winter Olympics in Turin, will be disappointed and frustrated.

The International Olympic Committee are banning all competitors' blogs during the course of the games.

The Olympic Charter bans athletes' journalist activities when the games are on, and violators will be disqualified. It seems that personal blogs are counted as "journalistic activities".