With the Olympic opening ceremony a mere 11 days away it wouldn't be an Olympic games without controversy about something and it's quite often the Village that the athletes stay in. The Australian team aren't too impressed with facilities and are currently boycotting it.
Aussie athletes haven't landed in Brazil just yet but the staff and officials have and so far they are refusing to stay in the newly built Olympic village. That's because there's some issues with the accommodation which, according to team boss Kitty Chiller, include "blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring."
Staff are staying at nearby hotels rather than at the facilities that includes tennis courts, football pitches, seven swimming pools and cost £1.14 billion to build. In a statememnt on the Australian Olympic website Chiller said: "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."
However Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes wasn't buying into the criticism hitting back at the contingent from 'Down Under' claiming that Rio's village was "more beautiful" than Sydney's in 2000. Paes also offered to put a kangaroo outside of the village to make the Australians "feel at home."
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A British team spokesperson wasn't as negative as the Australian's saying, "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."
And the US team also weren't concerned adding that the issues were no different to "every Games."
(Via BBC Sport)
Featured Image Credit:Topics: rio, 2016 Olympics, Australia, Brazil