Fifth IOC/BOCOG press conference

Wall Street Journal

I have a question about the persons on the Olympic Green. We have received quite a feedback that there are not as much as what was preferred by the sponsors as the presence of more will have more sparks. Does the Organizing Committee have any plans to encourage more people to come whereby relaxing the relations and any other measures? Secondly the issues on foods on stadium, we got a lot of feedback from readers that it's not enough in terms of quantity or quality. Now is this again another issue that has been recognized and is there any plans to address the issue?

Wang Wei

Thank you for your question. Of course we pay a lot of attentions to the enough people to the common domain of the Olympic Green. We make sure that we have a lot of people inside at the same time that everything will be safe.

We have witnessed about 250,000 people inside the Olympic Green. Perhaps maybe they are not on the streets because the Olympic Green is a huge area. They are in the sponsor showcasing center. They are in the China Story rooms and everywhere. Many people are inside the stadium. But we will still take more measures to encourage more people to enter the Olympic Green. Originally, we have OCD that means the Olympic Green Common Domain area on the accreditation card. Whoever has the accreditation card can enter the Olympic Green for free. We also organize people from the communities and travel agencies to enter Olympic Green. Upon our estimation, everyday we are planning to increase more people, to encourage more people to go into the Olympic Green. Yes, we are planning more people to enter the Olympic Green. Secondly, concerning the food in the stadiums, that's not to my observation. I will take note of your questions and look into it if there is not enough food or if the quality is not to the satisfaction of our client group. We will certainly improve it.

London reporter

The increased security relating to the attacks of the relatives of the US Volleyball Team. Don't you think that projects a negative image for what is apparently an isolated incident? Should we as British visitors to China and the British Olympic team be concerned about the reaction from the local population regarding this when the government is making a late reaction as it has been?

Liu Shaowu

Yes indeed, we have unfortunate incidents in Beijing. It is a shame indeed. We have actually investigated that this is an isolated incident. The police have already investigated the whole incident very closely and have already announced the results. We have invited the FBI on the American side and the American Embassy to directly participate in this investigation. We are extremely sorry for this incident. We have expressed our condolences and our grief to the relatives of the injured parties. However, from the security point of view, this, we can say is an isolated criminal act. Of course, it has taken place during the Games. After a very thorough investigation, we don't think it's going to have an effect on the Olympic Games itself. It does not involve any other elements, it's just an isolated incident. This particular person was encountering family difficulties and was extremely depressed and took this extreme action. We have investigated this person in his own province and he actually does not have any crime record. So we feel that this is an isolated incident and it should not have any other greater threat to any other delegation.

German reporter

I have 2 questions, one for Mr. Wang about the scalpers in front of gate 25. The police are there basically watching the whole thing going on and not doing anything about it. Second question for Mr. Felli, is there anything you are not pleased with? Thank you.

Wang Wei

Well, I think your question is a very good reminder. Our director of security of the Olympic Games is here and also he is the liaison of our security department. We are actually implementing strict measures on any violation of the ticket sales. Scalping is certainly a violation and will be penalized so I think we are not only taking note of that but our security people will step up their investigation. Any scalping will be punished. Thank you.

Liu Shaowu

In the course of our preparations, we also noted that all the host cities in previous Olympic Games encounter similar problems and we've also noted that internationally there are some people who specialized in this kind of scalping activities. We have already taken a number of measures ahead of time. What can I tell you that during the Games which is from the beginning until now, we've already discovered some illegal activities in this area and we punished them. We will continue to do this in the future. We will take necessary measures to seriously punish these kinds of illegal activities.

Gilbert Felli

As far as the question raised to me, first of all I would to re-access that this is a very complicated event to organize. Of course, we always have the discussion of this certain issue. Of course we always have out of the 300,000 accredited people and so many spectators and workers that we have some issues to deal with. That's normal business. I would say that we are pleased and I can see that we are here today on a high level that we have been sometime in the past with some of the difficulties we have. When you say not pleased or when it is not pleasing as much, I would say that we have discussion of the past concerning issues of the spectators and some of the venues. I can take it in 2 directions. If you take it that you are not happy because I like it to be performing 100%. If I compare to the past Games, I can be pleased because we are even better in some of the events. It's the structure of the venues I would say. First of all, for the Olympic Games, we have 41 sports events together. We have to understand the mixture of how the people can follow the different sports and that is not an easy task. You can see that we have first round of sports where some people come to see some athletes and leave after in sports like beach volleyball which last from 6 p.m. until midnight. You can't expect them to stay all the time because they go in and out to see the other sports. The same at the Olympic family side where the people are moving from one sport to another.

Yes we can always improved and be more happy but I've never seen working so quickly and the organizing committee we are pleased. If you want to look at some of the issues, that's fine. That's normal. During the first days of the Games, we have to keep concentrating until the last of the games and give our full appreciation of the Games.

Reporter from London

I want to ask Mr. Wang about the dancer Liu Yan from the Beijing Dance Academy who was injured during the rehearsal on July 27. I asked a BOCOG official directly a week ago if she had been paralyzed and I was told directly that she was not seriously injured. Now I learned from other press reports that she is partially paralyzed. Can you confirm that and can you also explain giving the wrong information to the international media? Thanks.

Wang Wei

Well, this is a very private question. I understand that she was seriously injured but I'm not sure whether she is paralyzed or not. She was hospitalized at this moment. I think that person you asked may not know exactly what happened to her. That's possible. That's how I can answer that. She was seriously hurt and hospitalized. But I don't know weather she is paralyzed or not.

Beijing Radio

Mr. Felli, China is a country which values good food and you said just now that the athletes in the Olympic Village are pleased with the foods. I would like to know if they are interested in Chinese cuisine and how they value Chinese cuisine.

Gilbert Felli

As you can understand, the athletes are here to perform and not here to try and to test the different foods. You can see some athletes testing some different foods. As you know in the Olympic Village, there are the choices between the international and the Asian cuisine, and I have to say that the Asian cuisine is well liked by the athletes. The opportunity for me to answer the question about the spectators. True that there are 1 or 2 venues for the first few days where the food is not enough for spectators. It is because that sometimes it's difficult to understand exactly how much people are going to eat. The people are coming here and they didn't have lunch. Then suddenly they want to eat a lot or they are just there for a snack. The evaluation of this is not easy but BOCOG is trying to take some actions to change the situations in the faraway venues.

Reporter from UK

One question for BOCOG and one for IOC. Can BOCOG confirm that the sponsors have actually complained about the lack of number on the Olympic Games; and to Giselle, a sportsman said yesterday that he has been drug-tested 4 times, he lost too much blood and he will be weak by the time of the competition. Is there any limit of amount of time that the athletes can be tested?

Wang Wei

I haven't heard any complain from our sponsors. I think it may be true. That is why we are giving more effort in encouraging more people to come to the common domain and also to their showcase center. Thank you.

Gilbert Felli

Yes. It's true that we got questions from the sponsors about the fact that they would like to see more people to come to the showcases. However, I have to say that everybody is surprised by the size of the Olympic Green because it is so big. Even with thousands of people in, it probably shows that we need even more. The choice of so many companies doing showcases in the past, of course it is going to be a little bit all of them, and it is for the spectators to leave out one. We are discussing that with the organizing committee and trying to bring more people in. We know that yesterday some of them were happy already, the ones in the front row. And maybe people behind are less happy because they went to the first one and now the second rows.

Giselle Davies

As you fully aware, we have a very comprehensive anti-doping program. So there are a lot of tests that are done as discussed at these press briefings on a number of occasions. If athletes have any concerns, they should raise this to the authority with the doping procedures they protest to do that. I have to say we are not aware of any complains that comes directly. Maybe just complains that has been given to the media. But there hasn't been any concerns raised to us. If they need to, they can be.

Gilbert Felli

Just to add. We have discussion during the past Games. And we had a clear coordination between WADA and IOC, and the local testing. If you enter the competition you have to be tested. We can not stop to test people who are winning the medals.

South China Morning Post

Mr. Wang, you said that there is no such 21 point decree to the mainland media. Are you categorically stating that the Chinese mainland media have not been in any way told how to report the Games? And therefore, are they now free to report the good and the bad of the Olympics? You are for the freedom of the domestic media, for instance, if I were to ask you a question now about why certain website are block to us here, such as Falungong and the Chinese laws. Could you report any discussion on that?

Wang Wei

Thank you for your question. I think your question can be divided into two parts. Number one is about the freedom of Chinese media to cover the Games. No problem, they have the freedom to cover the Games. There is no such 21 point decree. With regards to the Falungong website, the illegal organizations like Falungong are of course banned. All the new express are healthy to the young people and illegal and threats to the countries and security are banned as well as in any other countries.

CNN

This is for Mr. Wang. How do you explain the lack of excitement in Beijing for the Olympics compared to other past cities like Sydney? There have been TV screens around the city. Why are the Games not shown on them? Is this a security issue with mass crowd gathering?

Wang Wei

I think there is lot of excitement here in Beijing for the Olympic Games. How do you say there is no excitement or lack of excitement than in Sydney? I don't know how by what standard you are judging, what criteria you are using? If you go to the big TV screens on the streets, you can see a lot of people are watching the Games and they are excited about the Games. That is my observation. It may be different from yours. Thank you.

The second part, actually, Gilbert's presence was a surprise to me. Otherwise, we probably will have a live sites manager to explain the live sites. If you are saying that the live sites should also be on the screen, whether it could be possible, we have 26 live sites in Beijing, not only in downtown area, but also many suburbs in Beijing. There is a lot of excitement there. They have large screens to show the Games in the large screen and people can have drinks and they can invite friends over. I think it is a very good place. Thank you.

Foreign reporter

Thank you. I know that Xinjiang is very far. And yes, it was another upturn. Clearly these people are doing this because of the Olympics. So are you worried about that both on the security and on the atmosphere?

Wang Wei

I am not worried. Xinjiang is part of China. I think from the point of view of the state, they would not allow any scheme to happen. And there has been a series of sabotage activities. But I don't think it is going to affect the Olympic stage here. As I said before, they want to use Olympic Games as the platform to expand the influence. That is all. Thank you.

Beijing Youth Daily

My question is also fro Mr. Wang Wei. We do dislike the scalpers. There are very much trouble. But some of those with no tickets would like to be holding tickets through transfer by other ticket holders. How can they achieve it? Mr. Felli has been participating the organization of many past Games. Are there any good recommendations or experiences so far as legal transfer of the tickets?

Wang Wei

This is a Very good question but very hard to answer, because the tickets are not on high demand. Whoever gets the tickets, they would not like to sell it. That is the fact. They would rather give them to their friends and families. The people who got the tickets from friends may not necessarily come to the Games. You know what I mean, right? The tickets are affordable for most Chinese. That is our policy. We don't want to sell expensive tickets. So people buying tickets and they want the tickets themselves, but also they would like to give their tickets to their friends. If you like transfer tickets from their friends, it is not very easy. Again, scalping is not legal here.

Gilbert Felli

It depends on the country. In some countries, its legal and some is not. In China it's not legal to do it. That is a difficult subject, because people want to make business on tickets. Of course, they don't want to go to legal sites to get the tickets so there is no point for them to do it. So to stop people to do scalping is the only solution. If you get the ticket you don't want to give it to someone else, just to take the floor on the ambience. Of course people have different opinions. But last night, I was at boxing. But at the coming out of boxes, there was a changeable to football. If you ended up being there, you would have seen a lot of people and a lot of atmosphere. So, it was only in football competition, which was fantastic. We also have to balance position.

Wang Wei

A little modification on Gilbert's remarks on the legality of transferring tickets. Of course it is legal in China but scalping is not legal. But if you try to make a profit, asking for more money, that is not legal.

KBS, Japan

I heard that some of the singers that were done at the Opening Ceremony were lip synchronization. Do you know about that? So I think if its lip sync, we can call it a solo performance. What is your opinion about that?

Sun Weide

We actually checked with the artistic director yesterday. And actually the song of the Opening Ceremony was pre-recorded and the artistic director made the decision with the consolations with the broadcasters. It is also a recommendation by the broadcasters. I think previously, there have been a number of candidates to sing the song. At the end of the day, the artistic directors just picked the best voice and the best performer. Thank you.

AP

On that very topic, can I ask Mr. Felli, do you think it is in line with the goal of the performance that there should be one voice and one face other than those two different people? Is that the right message to send to the youth in the world?

Gilbert Felli

I think that what was explained to you earlier that during the Opening Ceremony, the Opening Ceremony is a huge organization and you've got many players giving opinions about what should be done and opinion from broadcasters. And then, you have to make sure performance and the song is at the highest level, it is a casting or it is a technical decision by the producer to do it. So you have to put it into the context of the Opening Ceremony and the complexity of the 15,000 performances performing in the Opening Ceremony. Of course all of them have to change roles on the preparation. Sometimes, at the Opening Ceremony, that is the casting issue that you have in the performance. So I think maybe some people would believe it is not appropriate. But all the other I would say that it is fantastic because the performance was great.

AP

Mr. Felli, if you were the father of the little girl, who had done the rehearsals and with singing, and you have to tell her at the last moment that she is not singing, how would you explain that decision to her?

Gilbert Felli

I have to say, again, you have to put it into context. For instance, you have a rowing boat. You have four roles, which qualify the Olympic Games. And suddenly the coach decided to change the roles of the athletes who perform. It is exactly the same. We could be in different opinions, but it is the same when you are a team, football team qualifying suddenly you don't allow other athletes to come. So the coach decided another casting.

AP

And that is true 7 and 9 year old in sports as well as in the Opening Ceremony?

Gilbert Felli

I think, as I said before, you can have different opinion, but sports are exactly the same. Of course I am not talking about the Olympic Games. But when it comes to the qualification system, if your son is in a football team, some day the coach is going to decide your son is going to stay on the bench, that is what it is in sports in life, yes. When it is personal, we always take it as a personal issue. But if you take it to the general context, it is the same for the individuals. Many girls have been trained to get this position. So once the decision was made one to sing and one to perform, you still got 5 to 6 who are not there.

AFP

My question is about media freedom. Could you please describe the reporting environment in Beijing at the moment, with regards to having ability to interview anyone who agrees to be interviewed?

Wang Wei

I would rather ask you if you confront any difficulties when you try to interview others. Acutally, Ever since January 1st, 2007, we issued a new regulation. The government says that people are free to interview anyone on the condition that interviewee agrees to be interviewed. So that is the rule. I think it has been implemented pretty well. But China is a large country. Any new regulation is to be implemented or taken a while to be 100% satisfaction. It may take a while for different places, for different provinces. They would do the same in the long run. Thank you.

AFP

Yesterday, I did run into some issues, I try to interview to someone agreed to be interviewed by AFP. We were blocked by security guards from meeting that person. That happened to me regularly in the last 18 months while I was reporting in Beijing. I was just wondering why that is and do you think the report environment is good, is adequate? Does it need some work?

Wang Wei

I think in general it is good. There maybe exceptions and we can address the exceptions. If you let me know where that happened, I would like to address the issue. Thank you.

Vancouver Sun

Mr. Felli, and Mr. Wang, with relations to the question of the performer, you suggested that the switch out of the rowing boat of four people. But I have never seen as situation where you had the coach say these are the four people in the boat. And it turned out one of them who would not be the person that they were being told. The public was told this is the girl who was singing the song they have been told we now find out it is entirely different. Don't you think it is a little bit dis-genuine?

Gilbert Felli

I think it is clear for me. The information is the right information as well the information that has been given to the people

Wang Wei

I think it is a joint decision by the group of directors. Together they are discussing with the broadcasters. They are to achieve the most theatric effects for the benefit of the whole performance, the whole Opening Ceremony. I don't see there is anything wrong with it, if everybody concerns agree to this discussion. Thank you.

Financial Times

Mr. Felli, the Olympic movement spent millions of dollars to protect sponsors by preventing ambush marketing. But in the Opening Ceremony, we had the most spectacular example of ambush marketing as it has ever been in the Olympic Games when Li Ning lit the Olympic torch. I am just wondering what you and perhaps most importantly the sponsors think about that?

Gilbert Felli

You always have this type of situation. Where a country has got a legendary athlete, and pick up the athletes to do something. Because they believe they want a legendary to light the flame. Now of course, you will always have some people trying to link issues. But we are not receiving at the IOC complains from any sponsor.

Sydney Morning Herald

Because I am the last one, can I ask two questions? The first one is to Gilbert. Last night at the shooting at the double tribe, Chinese performer was given two marks which the replay clearly showed that he should not have. The judges in that situation were Chinese. I have been told the BOCOG officials told the international federation the judges would be Chinese. Why does the IOC put it in a position where there is a perception that the judging could be affected by hometown advantage? And for the director of the security, can you tell us about how many protesters have applied to be in the protests in the parks and how many applications have been rejected.

Gilbert Felli

I can answer the first question. As you mention here, it is clearly a problem for the international federation. We certainly address to the international federation the process of selecting judges and referee. It is a clear understanding of them of the different positions of the field of play. I don't want to comment on what you are saying here. Because we don't have the report coming. We have not received the reporting yet coming out from the international federations. But for the principle, it seems quite clear.

Liu Shaowu

I would like to response to the second question. As far as I know, the channels we have opened for protesters, all requests have been dealt with according to the official channels. All of the activities are dealt with the government. So for the specific data, I don't have them at hand.

Wall Street Journal

Is there any indication? I asked this question many times but we haven't got response from the government authority on this issue.

Liu Shaowu

I really don't know. These are issues that are dealt by the government.

Wall Street Journal

Can you give an indication as to whether or not we can get answer? This is fifth day of the Games. Surely at some point there has to be some idea on how many applications have been received or rejected. This is not a preliminary start. There have been several days in the Games. Can you give an answer as when and if we can get an answer to this question?

Liu Shaowu

I really don't know.

Sun Weide

I am going to ask. And next press conference you will get the answer. Thank you very much. Thank you, bye.