18 July 2003

14 days to the Pan Ams
Mario Vasquez Raña, president of the Pan American Sports Organization, has said that he is ³satisfied² with the progress of preparations for the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo this August. The Mexican official has recently been critical of the delays in construction and refurbishments of the installations. After arriving in Santo Domingo and surveying the status of the venues, he said, ³All is well. That gives me a lot of peace of mind and satisfaction. We have fought hard, because we have had four years of worry.² Vasquez Raña also expressed confidence in the standards of the facilities with the comment that ³the Games to be launched on 1 August will have Olympic-standard installations.² The cafeteria at the Pan Am village has been completed. The facility has a capacity of 2,000 at one time. Listín Diario newspaper is enthusiastic in its description of the accommodation facilities, calling it ³a majestic village.² The complex will provide employment for 1,200, not including construction and security personnel. The ³Pan American Terminal² at Las Americas International airport is also ready to receive the 9,000+ athletes and officials due to arrive in the country for the Games. In other news, it has been announced that Luis Polonia, José Offerman, Dionis César, Ramón Espinosa, Félix Martínez, Juan Tito Bell, Dario Pérez, Yorkis Pérez, Melquiades Rojas, Dario Veras and José Café Herrera will comprise the Dominican baseball team at the Games. President Hipólito Mejía will inaugurate the remodeled Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic stadium next Tuesday. The complex will be the central venue of the Pan American Games and has been undergoing a major overhaul. The handball, archery, weightlifting, soccer, hockey, tennis, table tennis and gymnastics facilities at Parque del Este are reported to be ready for inauguration on Monday, according to Listín Diario¹s sports section. Padre Rogelio Cruz has responded to Games organizer José Joaquín Puello¹s call for popular protests to be suspended during the Games. The controversial community leader said that peaceful protests aimed at securing a better life for Dominicans would continue during the 17-day duration of the Pan Am Games. Meanwhile, with only 14 days until the opening, the Organizing Committee has yet to announce where the tickets will be sold and how much they will cost. While prices were posted last month, soon after the government announced there would be price reductions.


Live Pan Am coverage reduced
Toronto¹s Globe & Mail published today a Pan Am Games update by William Houston, which indicates that financial problems have forced the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to cut back on its coverage of the Games. CBC has the rights to the footage of the Games and will distribute it to other media around the world. The newspaper says that the Organizing Committee did not make the payments as set out in the contract. CBC chose to reduce its coverage, meaning that live transmission of certain sports events. Track, cycling, gymnastics events and the softball finals will be affected. "We could have walked away, because they were in breach of contract," said Alan Clark, the executive producer. "They had paid us about 80% of what we were owed, but, after three and a half years there, and because of the Games and the people, we said we would give them a program plan based on a reduced budget." http://www.theglobeandmail.com


Cruise ship chef cooking for athletes
The Pan Am Games Organizing Committee has chosen chef Rudi Sodamin to be responsible for preparing 372,000 meals for the more than 7,000 visiting athletes and delegates. Sodamin told The Miami Herald that he will be serving ³gold medal food to gold medal athletes². Sodamin is the consulting master chef for Royal Caribbean International, the cruise ship company, and thus is a world renown pro at serving excellent cuisine to large numbers of people. Previously, he was with Cunard Line. He is also an author of several cookbooks. ''I have cooked for six people -- kings and queens -- and I have cooked for 5,000 to 10,000 people on cruise ships. I definitely have the qualifications to do everything in the food and hospitality business,'' Sodamin told The Miami Herald. Sodamin¹s company, Food Sensation is a partner to Alisal, the El Salvador company that won the Pan Am Games catering contract. The company recently successfully catered the Central American Games held in San Salvador. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald

Source: http://dr1.com

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