The Olympic committees of a handful of European nations said Wednesday that they had received messages threatening armed attacks at the upcoming Sochi Olympics in February.

Committees in Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy were among those that received the messages — sent via ground mail and email — that contained what they called "terrorist threats."

The Sochi Winter Olympics will commence early next month, and some have expressed concerns that amid threats of armed attacks and Russia's recently passed anti-gay legislation, attendance at the international sporting event will take a major hit. Analysts have expressed the opinion that Russia stands to lose out in its $51 billion bid to showcase its soft power.

The Olympic committees said Wednesday that the messages, written in Russian and English, threatened their athletes with attacks at the Winter Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed there was a message but downplayed the severity of it.

Bence Szabo, secretary-general of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, told the daily Nemzeti Sport that the message he received urged the Hungarian team to stay away from the games. Committee President Zsolt Borkai told the state news wire MTI that other countries' Olympic committees had received similar messages and that the IOC, Sochi organizers and Hungarian security forces had been informed.

The IOC repeated its stance that it "takes security very seriously."

"(We will) pass on any credible information to the relevant security services," the IOC said in a statement. "However, in this case it seems like the email sent to the Hungarian Olympic Committee contains no threat and appears to be a random message from a member of the public."

A spokeswoman for Switzerland's Olympic committee said such threats were "normal" so close to the games and that athletes and officials would base their travel plans on the assessment of security and diplomatic officials.

"This is kind of an everyday mail. This is normal before every Olympics," Martina Gasner told The Associated Press by telephone. "We work with the federal offices for police and foreign relations. If they say you can go to Sochi, we will go, and if one day they will say it is too dangerous and we command you not to go, then we will change our plans."