Cost of Greece Olympics doubles

By Harry Peart
BBC World Service Sports correspondent

The Athens Games burnt through billions of euros

The Greek government has announced that this year's Olympic Games in Athens cost 8.8bn euros ($11.5bn/£6.2bn) - almost double the original estimate.

Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis said the figures were not final and did not include the costs of major improvements to the infrastructure.

The increased costs were mainly due to delays in construction and increased security.

But Mr Alogoskoufis said all Greeks should be proud of their success.

The former socialist government, which lost power in the elections before the Games started, had predicted that the cost would not significantly exceed 4.2bn euros ($6bn/£3.2bn).

Race finish

The latest figure of 8.8bn euros does not include the costs of the major projects including the new airport, roads and railways.

Through excessive bureaucracy and political infighting, the Athens preparations suffered severe delays, and it was even suggested that the Games would not be ready on time.

The race to finish construction projects led to increased costs in a bid to catch up with the deadlines.

Security was another major factor - the budget rose from 96.4m euros ($125m/£67m) to one billion euros ($1.3bn/ £700m) following the attacks on the United States.

Mr Alogoskoufis admitted there were massive overruns, but said the Games were an investment.

He stressed that the final total would not be a serious burden to the Greek national budget.