The International Olympic Committee began its evaluation of Madrid's 2016 bid Tuesday, while Spanish organizers said claims it spied on a rival candidate stemmed from a "misunderstanding."
Last Friday, Rio de Janeiro's bid organizers stripped a British freelance journalist involved with Madrid's Olympic campaign of his credentials during the tour of the Brazilian city after they learned he had been accredited through Spanish news agency Efe.
Rio's bid committee said officials discovered Simon Walsh was falsely credentialed for Efe just moments before he was to be included in a small group of foreign journalists who met Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
"It was a misunderstanding between our communications department and Efe and the journalist who went," Madrid id leader Mercedes Coghen said Tuesday. "If we have to excuse ourselves in front of Rio and in front of (bid leader Carlos) Guzman, we will." Full report
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