The Games, the biggest event Russia has hosted since the fall of the Soviet Union, are to get under way on February 7 at a ceremony starting at 2014 local time (1614 GMT) that is expected to project Russia’s status as a world and sporting power.

Yet with the clock ticking down fast to the start of the Games, concerns grew about whether all the accommodation would be ready on time as workers toiled around the clock to put the finishing touches to hotels.

Media arriving early for the Games have found rooms still being furnished even as they checked in

"There are still some issues to be solved as it is always just before the games," International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach acknowledged as he attended a session of the IOC executive board in Sochi.

"But always in this respect we are in contact with the organising committee and we hope that the situation will be solved in the next couple of days," he added.