Chilean tennis star Marcelo Rios refused to carry his country's flag in the opening ceremony of the Olympics because his mother and sister did not get tickets for the show.pInstead, Nicolas Massu, another tennis player, was the standard bearer in the ceremony on Friday night.Jorge Nunez, a Chilean delegation official, confirmed that Rios made his refusal known at the very last minute, "almost when we were leaving for the stadium."Nunez decline to give other details, saying any official comment should come from Chile's Olympic committee president Ricardo Navarrete, who was not immediately available."What I can tell you is that our athletes are fully concentrating on the competition, not on that situation," Nune said.Chilean sources said Rios is still scheduled to participate in the Olympic tennis tournament.Interviewed in Santiago, the Chilean capital, Rios' father, Jorge Rios, told local reporters that he had asked his son to refuse to bear the flag.Rios Sr said that he could not accept that after the long trip to Australia, his wife and daughter were left without tickets.
