Keep your eye on the ball, Rogge tells Beijing

BEIJING, Oct 24 (Reuters) Beijing organisers must avoid complacency if they are to deliver a successful Olympic Games in 2008, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said today.

Rogge, speaking at the start of the IOC coordination commission visit to discuss the progress of preparations with the Beijing organising committee (BOCOG), also said attention needed to be paid to the ''less tangible'' side of hosting the Games.

''Despite the great progress that BOCOG has so far been able to achieve, my experience throughout my Olympic career has been that it is extremely important not to 'take your eye off the ball', because it is often in the moments when you lose your focus that mistakes can creep in,'' Rogge said.

While Beijing is on schedule with the construction of the venues, there are still concerns about pollution and traffic congestion in the city as well as media freedom and human rights in China.

''We should all remember that the Games are not judged solely by the technical proficiency of the project, but also through the perception that the world has of the Games,'' Rogge added.

''We must therefore ensure that while all the technical elements are in place that we do not forget to look after the less tangible elements that will ultimately shape the world's image of China and the Beijing Games.'' VERY POSITIVE Rogge, who will visit the Olympic venues later on Tuesday, said reports he had heard about the preparations for the Games were very positive.

''I think that it is only appropriate at this point to pay tribute to the magnificent work that our friend, President Liu Qi ... and ... the other members of the BOCOG leadership and, of course, the BOCOG staff have been carrying out over the past five years,'' he said.

''When I speak to my IOC colleagues ... they all tell me how impressed they are with the progress that our Chinese friends are making in developing the project.

''These comments are a positive signal that the dream of the Olympic Games being held in Beijing and China from all those years ago, when you, our friends, first started out with the idea of hosting top quality Olympic Games, are becoming a reality.'' The coordination commission, led by the IOC's Hein Verbruggen, will be in Beijing until Thursday.

REUTERS PDS RN0819