ATHENS, Greece -- Even as they boast of progress and newfound focus, familiar troubles lurk for Athens Olympic organizers.

That's the message being carried by the game's main international inspector, whose concerns somewhat cloud the rosy picture promoted by local planners of the 2004 Games.

Such out-of-sync perspectives could reopen tensions between Athens officials and the International Olympic Committee during a two-day inspection visit that begins Wednesday.

The Greek government and 2004 bosses are eager to concentrate on their recent successes, including work on many Olympic sites and transportation links after years of worrisome inaction.

But the IOC team, led by Swiss member Denis Oswald, also is expected to probe some of the weak points with just over two years before the opening ceremony.

The former international airport site remains a chief worry, Oswald said, while work is "several months" behind schedule on the highly specialized canoe and kayak courses and plans to use an old hangar for basketball is "technically much more difficult than expected."

Work contracts, meanwhile, remain unsigned for some of the other sports at the former Hellenikon airfield: softball, baseball and field hockey.

"We have relatively negative news regarding Hellenikon ... This is a concern," Oswald told The Associated Press.

Even current blueprints could be thrown into question by a legal dispute over whether to give private pilots continued use of a runway at the old airfield.

"That is certainly an area where there are risks and there are some difficulties, and we'll certainly spend quite a lot of time discussing that," Oswald said.

The government has recently displayed a more aggressive posture to try to break Olympic-related delays. Last week, the governing Socialists pushed through emergency legislation giving it wider powers to resist citizen complaints.

The immediate impact should be felt along the Olympic marathon route, where some groups oppose widening the roadways near the start. But it apparently gives officials more clout to push aside critics of other projects for the games.

One opposition lawmaker, Manolis Kefaloyiannis, said the measures "constitute an admission of the government's inability to carry out the work on time."

Another long-running IOC concern is a severe shortage of hotel rooms for spectators and tourists hoping to be in Athens for the games.

About 90 percent of Athens' 21,000 top hotel rooms have been reserved for the "Olympic Family," which includes IOC officials and sponsors.

Plans include putting some spectators and others in private homes and apartments, and package tours that place people on islands and other holiday resorts and bring them to Athens for Olympic events.

Oswald doubted those options were feasible.

Recent weeks offered some examples of an Olympic nightmare. Irate travelers were stranded on islands. High winds canceled ferry service for several days. Then a strike kept the vessels in port for four days.

An opinion poll released Tuesday by 2004 organizers appeared to bolster some of Oswald's worries -- 74.1 percent of those questioned said they would either "definitely not" or "most probably not" rent out their homes during the Olympics.

Meanwhile, 67.6 percent they would definitely or probably stay in the capital for the games.

The VPRC Co. poll was compiled from face-to-face interviews of 1,162 Greeks over 15 years old from May 16 to June 2. No clear margin of error was given.

IOC officials also are expected to review operational issues such as ticketing and transport logistics. In addition, the team will seek details on plans to refurbish the 20-year-old main Olympic complex.

Some reports have suggested the costs for the project -- by noted Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava -- have jumped significantly.

"We heard that there are some difficulties. This is on our list," Oswald said.