Q: What was the purpose of the IOC's latest visit to Athens.

A: This was the first visit the IOC's full co-ordination commission had made since the Winter Games at Salt Lake City.

They spent three days assessing progress in relation to deadlines.

Q: How are facilities progressing?

A: The organisers say 80% of them are in place and just need refurbishment, but Sydney was well ahead of Athens at the same stage.

Q: Why have there been problems meeting deadlines?

A: About three years have been lost, largely due to bureaucracy and political infighting.

There were countless government departments involved, which made decision-making very difficult.

In the end, almost under instructions from the IOC, they brought back Gianna Angelopoulos as president of the organising committee.

She had helped win the Games for Greece and seems to have brought about some progress.

Q: Will she be able to get everything ready in time?

A: Organisers say some venues, including the weightlifting centre, are ahead of schedule. But everything is going to be very, very tight.

At some venues there will not be time for that. Test events planned for the sailing in August will not be full-scale.

There is concern that some sites won't be ready until June 2004, with the Games due to start on 11 August.

Q: Could there be money problems?

A: The Games are underwritten by the Greek government so money should not be a problem.

One of the success stories of the Games is that marketing and sponsorship is ahead of schedule. They have achieved all their targets with ease.

Q: What are the potential problems for the future?

A: Security, accommodation and transport are always a concern but in Athens this was not helped by delays in getting construction started.

They found it hard to get planning permission as there were problems with historic sites.

Athens traffic is awful and it is also going to be a huge problem. They are building railways and trams and insist this will be solved in time.

Accommodation is needed for 90,000 and they are still a few thousand short.

Q: Could Greece lose the Games if preparations fall behind schedule?

A: Two years ago the former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch likened Athens to a traffic light. He said the light was on amber and there was a danger of it turning red.

There was never any suggestion of the Games being taken away, though, because everything was so far advanced. But it was a serious wake-up call.

Q: What is the latest word from the IOC?

A: IOC chief inspector Denis Oswald is confident everything is on course but admits there is little room for manoeuvre if things go wrong.

There is an election coming up in Greece and Oswald stressed that was important for all politicians to take responsibility.

He said the image of Greece for the next 20 years would depend on the success of the Games.