ATHENS, Aug 5: The Athens Olympics was hit by its first sporting controversy on Thursday when women tennis players threatened to boycott next week's Games if two German players were not cleared to play.
But on the eve of the one-week countdown to the opening of the Aug 13-29 Games, the boycott was the only serious cloud on the horizon for the Greek capital, which has staged a remarkable turn round in getting ready for the world's biggest sporting event.
Public Order Minister George Voulgarakis, who is in charge of the massive operation to protect the first summer Games since the Sept 11, 2001, attacks, said security forces had not detected any threatening "chatter" concerning a possible international terrorist attack.
Ambulance workers called off planned strikes during the Games to support their demands for an Olympic bonus, an issue that other unions, including hotel workers, have taken up.
The tennis row involved a threat by WTA Tour players to stay away if Germany's Anca Barna and Marlene Weingaertner were not included in the Olympic team after meeting International Tennis Federation qualifying standards. -Reuters
