SYDNEY, 7 May 2004 — Australia may consider sending armed guards with its Olympic team following Wednesday’s bomb blasts in Athens and Qantas will be on standby to fly athletes out of Greece in case of an emergency in August.
“We have not requested Australian personnel to have arms,” John Coates, head of the Australian Olympic Committee, told reporters yesterday. “I don’t rule it out. I will monitor and see if it is going to be permitted for other countries. I really think we should be reliant on Greek authorities (for security),” he said.
Greece has said it will not allow foreign armed guards on Greek soil. Three bombs exploded in Athens on Wednesday just 100 days before the Games begin on Aug. 13.
Coates said protection for the Australian team in Athens would be increased. Three team bodyguards and four Australian Federal Police liaison officers will accompany the squad to ensure safety in the Greek capital. National carrier Qantas, which has been chartered to carry the team, will be on standby to evacuate athletes in an emergency. “If there was any need for athletes, officials or others to be flown out of Athens at short notice, we certainly have the operational capability to do that,” Qantas spokesman Michael Sharp said. Coates said Australia, hosts of the last Games in 2000, would consider withdrawing its team from Athens only if the security situation deteriorated in the Greek capital and the Olympics became a target. “If the IOC came to that conclusion and the Australian government did, of course we would have to take that into account and that is a very real possibility if those things happened,” Coates said.
