Pressure on the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics continued to mount when the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday the city had no more time to waste and needed to win over the hearts of the Brazilian people.

Rio organizers have yet to start construction on their second Olympic park in Deodoro while Nawal El Moutawakel, the IOC's head of the coordination commission said there were still outstanding issues related to government support.

"A number of unsolved issues remain with regard to the full alignment of government support," Moutawakel told the IOC session following a progress report by Rio Games chief Carlos Nuzman.

"Significant and tangible progress has been made. But constant supervision and assistance will be required over the coming months."

She said work on the Deodoro park was confirmed to start in May 2014, just more than two years before the Olympics.

The IOC was highly critical of preparations as recently as September when Nuzman, himself an IOC member, was on the receiving end of tough questions from his Olympic colleagues over delays.

Organizers published the Games budget only a few months ago after being awarded the Olympics in 2009.

Rio organizers also have to deal with the fallout from protests over the use of funds for big events including this year's World Cup. A number of demonstrations have taken place since the start of the year.

"We have to make a great effort to communicate whenever possible, to enter in a dialogue," said IOC president Thomas Bach, who traveled to Rio in January to hold crisis talks with Dilma Rousseff, presdient of Brazil.

"There is a good story to tell and Rio needs to tell it to the people to improve support," said the German.