IOC official Coates backtracks on Rio attack

IOC vice-president John Coates on Thursday backtracked on his scathing criticism of Rio de Janeiro`s Olympic preparations, saying the city could deliver an "excellent" Games and "things are moving in the right direction".

"Following my statements about the upcoming Games in Rio I want to underline that I still believe that the Rio Organising Committee and the people of Brazil can indeed deliver excellent Games in 2016," he said. His toned-down comments came two days after he blasted Rio`s preparations as the worst he had ever seen.