AFP, Seoul :
The South Korean organisers of the 2018 Winter Olympics vowed Tuesday to step up their preparations, admitting they faced numerous challenges in getting all the venues up and running.
“We will step up preparations to get it ready in time,” Kwak Young-Jin, the secretary general of the Pyeongchang 2018 organising committee told reporters in Seoul.
Acknowledging “difficulties” posed by funding issues and construction delays, Kwak admitted the committee was “pressed for time” with test events due to be held in 2016.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) picked Pyeongchang as the host in 2011, favouring it over the German city of Munich, and French Alpine town of Annecy.
Preparations have run into financial difficulties and the organisers have urged the South Korean government to pay more toward the cost of a new main stadium.
A South Korean state audit reported last month that the organising committee generated no income in 2013 and just 3.5 billion won ($3.2 million) last year, far short of its target.
But Kwak said negotiations with a number of potential sponsors were close to fruition.
“We aim to secure deals with eight or nine sponsors, including at least two big names, within the first half of this year,” he said.
Last week, the head of the IOC’s Coordination Commission for the 2018 Games, Gunilla Lindberg, inspected the venue sites and flagged concerns over the pace of Pyeongchang’s preparations, saying much remained to be done.
