Rio Olympics 2016: Australia refuse to move into athletes’ village – BBC News

Rio Olympic village

Teams are housed in tower blocks at the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro

Australia are refusing to move their athletes into the Rio Olympic Village because of concerns about the state of their accommodation.

Problems include “blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring”, according to team boss Kitty Chiller.

Chiller said she had raised concerns with local event organisers and the International Olympic Committee, and was “pushing hard for a solution”.

Australian staff are in nearby hotels with the first athletes due on Monday.

Alternative accommodation for team members arriving over the next three days has been arranged.

Chiller, the head of Australia’s Olympic delegation, said extra maintenance staff and more than 1,000 cleaners have been engaged to fix the problems but the faults, particularly the plumbing issues, have not been resolved.

She said in a statement on the Australian Olympic website: “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.

“Problems include blocked toilets, leaking pipes, exposed wiring, darkened stairwells where no lighting has been installed and dirty floors in need of a massive clean.”

The British team have had staff in place for several days and a spokesman told Reuters: “We are confident that our accommodation is ready to receive athletes and will be to the highest standards within the village.

“Whilst we have encountered some maintenance difficulties this is not uncommon with new build structures of this type and we have been working hard to overcome them.”

The 31-building village will house 18,000 athletes and officials at the height of the Games, which start on 5 August.

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