AS Greece falls, it isn’t the country’s ancient ruins that provide the starkest symbol of decay.
It’s the state-of-the-art facilities constructed just over ten years ago for the Athens Games, many of which lie abandoned, dirt encrusted on seats and grass sprouting through cracks in the floors.
Olympic Games are vastly expensive undertakings, and almost always mean a crushing financial loss for the host nation. But starry-eyed governments only see enormous international attention and major spending opportunities.
Greece was just another nation that wanted a piece of the pie. But how far did the 2004 Olympics contribute to its current desperate situation?
