Emailed terrorist threat ‘not viable’
Federations from Britain, Italy, Germany, Hungary and Slovenia have confirmed they were in receipt of emails or letters with similar content, which were passed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) security advisers.
However, Irish Olympic chiefs have received assurances from the IOC hierarchy and security experts that the “threat contained in the mail” was not considered as viable.
An IOC spokesperson last night said: “The IOC takes security very seriously and passes on any credible information to the relevant security services.
“However, in this case it seems like the email sent to a number of NOCs contains no threat and appears to be a random message from a member of the public.’
Irish team officials are set to confirm a five-strong team for Sochi tomorrow of Seamus O’Connor (snow-boarding), Seán Greenwood (skeleton), Conor Lyne (alpine skier), Florence Bell (alpine skier) and Jan Rossiter (Nordic skier). The Winter Olympics opening ceremony takes place on Friday, February 7.
The latest security concern comes two days after a video emerged of two young men believed to have been involved in last month’s bombings in the Russian city of Volgograd.
In the video, the men threaten visitors to Sochi, saying: “If you will hold the Olympics you will get a present from us for all the Muslim blood that’s been spilled.”
But Vladimir Putin is adamant the Games will be safe and said the Russian authorities have a “perfect understanding” of the threat and their means of combating it.
