Vancouver  - Cross-country and Nordic combined skiers on Friday started their World Cup events in the Olympic venues in Whistler, on the eve of British Columbia legislators' emergency session to discuss the financing of athletes' accomodation for the 2010 Games.

Also on Friday, Vancouver's deputy manager for the budget-plagued Olympic Village, Jody Andrews, resigned over the issue which has been dubbed the Olympic Village "fiasco" and "scandal."

The Saturday meeting in Victoria is necessary because the provincial government has been asked to amend the Vancouver Charter to allow the city loaning 360 million dollars necessary to complete the accomodation project in the city.

The main lender of the project, Fortress Investment In, had to stop its payments of a 598-million dollar loan deal with contractor Millennium Development in September due to rising costs and the crashing real estate market.

The city has come up with millions of dollars in bailout payments to continue the project but must get the go-ahead to loan the additional money required.

The Olympic Village has to be delivered by contract on November 1. Its 1,100 units are to be sold after the Olympics set for February 12-28, 2010, in Vancouver. (dpa)