Athens Olympics 2004: One of the reasons for Greece’s debt crisis?

Greece overspending led to one of the biggest financial crisis in recent years. The governments have never been able to balance a budget in last 40 years. When we analyze the factors responsible for the debt crisis, the 2004 Athens Olympics seems to be one of them.
The Athens Olympics may not be the sole factor responsible for Greece’s financial mess, but it shows how things went wrong in Greece. Around a half of Olympic venues costing billions of dollars are now left vacant and useless. They are now guarded by private security guards. Many argue that money was thoughtlessly wasted on such gaming venues. The government should have planned alternative activities to be done over there once the Olympic games were over.
Greece spent over $11 billion on 2004 Athens Olympics (by current exchange rates), which was almost double the initially chalked out budget. This figure doesn’t even include some major infrastructure projects, most of which were completed very late and off the schedule, consequently, costing more due to inflation. Many of construction project were worked on by the construction crew 24/7. The crew used floodlights to work at night. The country spent a whopping $1.2 billion on security alone. The worst part is that the government didn’t even bother to accept the offers by some sports federation including the International Softball Federation, which wanted to use and maintain the Olympic venues.