The race to finish the Olympics

The full scale of the crisis faced by the Athens Olympics can be revealed by the Evening Standard today. Despite claims by Greek authorities that they are fully prepared, the reality could not be more different.

Our investigation found that:

The possibility of fans sitting in half-empty stadiums has alarmed the Greek authorities so much that they have been reduced to making desperate pleas for people to buy tickets.

The chief Athens 2004 organiser, Gianna Angelopoulos, is now doing the rounds of interviews on local radio calling for Greeks to put on a good show in front of the world's cameras. "This is a once in a lifetime chance for people to experience the Games," she said.

But even full stadiums will not cover up the extent of the problems organisers face.

Transport workers, ambulance drivers and even doctors are poised to strike over demands for an "Olympic bonus", a move which will bring utter chaos to Athens.

And the power grid has already experienced a massive blackout, which is likely to be repeated when air-conditioning is turned up to deal with the 40-degree heat expected in August.

Evening Standard has learned that while the Olympic venues will be ready for the glare of the world's media at the opening ceremony on August 13, the scene away from the television cameras is likely to be of stark difference.

Areas around the stadium are unlikely to be finished, leaving spectators to trip over potholes and avoid mounds of rubble. Long stretches will remain a building site for the duration of the Games - littered with discarded construction materials and surrounded by makeshift fences.

Ambitious plans to plant millions of trees and create green spaces have had to be scrapped because of time limits. Any efforts that have already been made at landscaping look like an afterthought - with trees thrown into the ground like javelins and lamposts stuck in holes only half filled with cement.

Even the centre of Athens, which was intended to present a new and modern face to the world, will be dotted with incomplete construction work.

One local television reporter said: "The venues will be complete and I am sure they will look fantastic on

TV. But there is a lack of finesse around the edges. Off the camera it is still an unfinished, blockaded mess."

Despite the rush to finish the parts that will be seen on TV, work on some of the stadiums is nowhere near complete.

The main Olympic complex - which will host the athletics, swimming, tennis and cycling - still has scores of builders still tryingto finish key areas. We saw dozens of workers perched on the elaborate ?280 million roof of the Olympic Stadium, which took 15 cranes and more than a month to slide into place. Many of the 72,000 seats inside the stadium have still not been fitted.

The Velodrome, supposedly finished on 30 May, also had workmen on its roof.

Even with the stadiums finished, many are set to be half-empty because tourists have been put-off by the eye-watering cost of hotel rooms and flights. Hoteliers have quadrupled prices and even the cost of eating out, famously reasonable in Greece, is soaring.

Simon Gillespie, managing director of Sportsworld, the official UK tour operator for the event, admitted visitors may have been put off by the "frighteningly" high costs.

One Greek tour operator admitted the Games had actually caused a fall in visitor numbers. Noel Josephides, managing director of Sunvil Holidays, said: "The Olympics have been a blight on tourism this year."

Today Olympic bosses claimed preparations remain on track - despite the evidence of a mounting crisis. Olympic committee executive director Marton Simitsek said: "We have the best venues in the history of the Olympic Games, worldwide.

"Any time now we expect Greeks and other Europeans to speed up purchase of tickets."

But Greek deputy culture minister Fani Palli-Petralia admitted: "We are battling hour by hour to be ready. Much has been done and there is much still to do until the last minute."