Olympics-Madrid bid chief apologies following Rio complaint

COPENHAGEN, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The head of Madrid's bid for the 2016 Olympics apologised to rivals Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday after a Spanish official was quoted as saying the Brazilian bid was the worst of the four.

Rio, in a tight race with Madrid, Chicago and Tokyo for the right to host the Summer Games in 2016, complained to the International Olympic Committee's ethics commission after Jose Maria Odriozola, vice-president of the Madrid bid, made disparaging comments about Rio to a reporter.

Madrid bid leader Mercedes Coghen, speaking at a presentation, said Madrid had never intended to break the spirit of fair play in the contest, which will be decided by a vote of IOC members on Friday.

"Whatever happened, we want to apologise to Rio," Coghen told reporters.

"We believe that all four bids are very good bids. We have tried throughout to have fair play. I believe all four cities are very, very good cities. All four can win this race but hopefully Madrid will be the winner."

Rio bid organisers called the original comments unacceptable and said they had made an official complaint.

"The gentleman is clearly out of step with the report of the IOC's own evaluation committee," the Rio bid said in a statement.

"His comments are totally unacceptable."

IOC rules say candidate cities are not allowed to criticise other bids.

Madrid mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon also sought to diffuse the situation at Madrid's presentation on Wednesday, describing all four bids as "splendid", adding that he was absolutely convinced Madrid would win the vote.

(Additional reporting by Karolos Grohmann

(Editing by Ed Osmond, To comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)