Kenyan sports minister presses Games bid

Kenya's sports minister Ochillo Ayacko has defended his pursuit of the 2016 Olympic Games for the east African country, defying public disdain that greeted his surprise bid announcement.

Critics have said Kenya, struggling with poverty, cannot afford to host the world's most prestigious sporting event.

There have been calls for Ayacko's resignation since he surprised International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge with the bid announcement at a ceremony to open Kenya's Olympic committee offices earlier this month. Rogge said the IOC would support Kenya's bid.

"I have no apologies to make about my statement because I am aware of all the requirements needed for a country to host an Olympic Games. I will push ahead with the bid," Ayacko told Reuters.

The cost of staging the Athens Olympics was nearly twice Kenya's total annual expenditure of 440.6 billion shillings ($5.7 billion). But Ayacko pointed to the European Union's financial assistance to Athens as an example of how less wealthy countries can host the Games.

¤ Up to 20 per cent of spectators at the European indoor athletics championships in Madrid in March will not be able to see all the action that takes place on the 200-metre track at the city's new indoor sports pavilion. Spanish sports daily AS estimated that around 2,000 of the 10,000 seats at the new Palacio de Deportes would have a significantly restricted view of the track. AS said that organisers still planned to sell the reduced-visibility tickets for the championships that take place between March 4 and 6.