Beijing, April 09: The chief of the body representing Olympic committees from across the world today made it clear that the route for the Beijing Games' global torch relay would be maintained.
"I say that we do not have the authority on the way in which the torch is handled or managed. We are quite sure that the route followed by the torch relay will be maintained. I do hope there will not be any problems," Mario Vazquez Rana, the President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), told reporters here at end of the three-day meeting of these committees from around the world.
Asked if he apprehended that the torch relay could be disrupted in India because of huge Tibetan population, Rana said disruptions could happen anywhere. "It might be in India or it could be anywhere."
Rana, however, said "I will speak out in favour of some changes in the system. We have to think of the (Olympic) Games."
He said the torch relay which travels around the world had been "slightly overestimated" and "I think it is necessary to make some changes in the future. These concern the itinerary."
Asked if considering the experience of the Beijing Olympics torch relay, which was disrupted by Tibetan and human rights activists in London and Paris, he would recommend either scrapping or reviewing the global torch relay for the London and future Olympics, he said "I will voice my own ideas to the International Olympic Committee Executive Board meeting tomorrow."
First Published: Wednesday, April 09, 2008, 00:00