ATHENS, Sept. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- International Paralympic Committee(IPC) chief Phil Craven on Wednesday expressed confidence that themomentum from last month's hugely successful 2004 Athens Olympic Games will carry over for the Paralympic Games, which begin here on Friday with a sold-out opening ceremony.

    IPC President Craven told reporters that he believes that Greece and its capital Athens definitely want to "continue the sports festival" begun last month.

    Speaking after the conclusion of the IPC's executive committee meeting at a downtown Athens hotel, Craven downplayed worries of slumping ticket sales for the Athens Paralympics.

    "Tickets sales were slow, but they're picking up, it was the same with the Olympics (a month ago)," he said, adding that total sales so far stand at around 300,000, with Athens organizers (ATHOC) pointing to a target of 500,000.

    However, he expressed concern that without the Olympic Lane designated for only accredited vehicles during the Olympic Games, it would be a big problem to transport the athletes from the northern Olympic Village to southern coastal Helleniko Olympic Complex.

    He praised ATHOC for its great achievements in transporting theParalympic athletes from the airport to the Olympic Village.

    Usually, the athletes has to wait for two or three hours at theairport, but "it has never happened here so far," he said.

    "ATHOC has done a good job," he added.

    Asked about the effect the 2004 Paralympics have had on improving accessibility in the often congested and densely populated Greek capital, Craven said progress was evident, although it would be absolutely unattainable to expect Athens to become "barrier-free" in only three years "after 3,000 years of usage".

    Commenting on the doping specter plaguing international sports of late -- as evidenced by last month's Olympic Games -- Craven reiterated that the IPC also holds a "no tolerance" attitude vis-a-vis prohibited substances.

    He singled out the sport of power lifting, which has recorded the lion's share of doping incidents in past Paralympics, saying that if more violations arise in Athens then "we have to give close consideration to the situation."

    During the press conference, representatives from the Rio 2007 "Para-Pan-American Games" also introduced the preparations for thefirst-ever Pan-American tournament involving athletes with a disability. Enditem