AROUND THE RINGS REPORTS OF SYDNEY BUDGET WOES

          A confidential document "detailing the budget woes" of
     the Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games
     (SOCOG) "reveals that SOCOG was on track to blow-out its
     budget by more than [A]$290 million if left unchecked,"
     according to Ed Hula of AROUND THE RINGS.  Although
     "decisive" executive action from April through June seems to
     have turned the budget back into the balance, "plenty of red
     flags remain waving throughout the Executive Summary of the
     SOCOG Budget Reforecast."  The document showed that SOCOG
     "still hopes to see" an additional A$275M in sponsorship
     revenue from domestic sponsors before the end of the Games. 
     SOCOG has already received 100% of its revenue, or A$223M,
     from the TOP sponsors.  To lessen expenses, SOCOG has
     reduced hires and offered less money to new hires, therefore
     "increasing the ratio of volunteer to paid staff and
     deploying SOCOG headquarters staff into the field during the
     Games" (AROUND THE RINGS, 10/21).