Football Legacy Plans for 2012 Stadium; Archery Concerns in Delhi

West Ham Submits Bid for 2012 Stadium

West Ham United is among the bids who today submitted proposals to take over the London 2012 Olympic Stadium.

The English Premier League football club submitted a joint proposal with Newham Council. AEG, the international sports and entertainment company which operates London's O2 Arena, is also understood to have sent plans to the Olympic Park Legacy Company.

The OPLC declined to say the names of, or how many bidders submitted plans for the stadium.

Three West Ham players delivered the bid to run the stadium after the 2012 Games to No. 10 Downing Street Thursday.

Plans submitted by the club, one of the favorites to take over the stadium, call for most of the iconic stadium structure to be retained post-Games.

It would be reconfigured to a 60,000-capacity to host football and athletics as well as other major sports, concerts and community events. One proposal is to incorporate an Olympic visitor center and football museum at the stadium.

The running track would be retained, in keeping with LOCOG's bid commitment to the IOC to provide an athletics legacy after the Games.

West Ham said the joint bid had been welcomed by London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and Ed Warner, the chairman of UK Athletics.

Earlier this year, about 150 companies expressed interest in taking over the stadium before the OPLC launched the bid process.

Companies had six weeks to prepare their bids; the deadline passed at noon Thursday.

AEG's plans for the Olympic Stadium are unclear, but the company is expected to unveil its proposals for the stadium in the coming days.

"Bidding for the long-term lease of the Olympic Stadium has now closed and the Olympic Park Legacy Company will review the bids over the coming weeks to create a shortlist for formal negotiations," the OPLC said in a statement.

A spokeswoman said the OPLC would then choose a preferred bidder. A final decision on the anchor tenant for the stadium will be made in April.

Archery Federation Criticizes Delhi 2010 Organizers

The International Archery Federation, FITA, expressed disappointment with the state of the archery venue for the Commonwealth Games and the organization of the event.

In a letter to member federations obtained by Around the Rings, FITA said: "Despite frequent interventions by FITA, through our technical delegate, our event director and the entire management of FITA, we will face an event that is not up to FITA’s standard unless there is a huge improvement in the coming days."

Around 125 athletes from 24 countries are taking part in the archery events at Delhi 2010. Archery is making its return to the Games program for the first time since its 1982 debut in Brisbane, Australia.

Archery was scheduled to be held at Indian Gate, but security concerns voiced by Delhi organizers forced a venue switch in May.

A FITA spokeperson tells Around the Rings that the finals venue for archery, Yamuna Sports Complex, is not up to scratch, claiming the concept for the final field and the dated spectators stands are not to the standards expected for a major archery event.

FITA secretary general Tom Dielen also raised concerns over the sport presentation in the letter.

"[T]he OC refused to hire enoughadequate staff and decided to hire Indians for sport presentation and announcing" he wrote.

"These people have no experience in high-level archery events as demonstrated in the test event.

"We also are worried in terms of the spectator access to the venue since the access to the stands is from the front which is completely against FITA’s specifications and which will cause issues with crowd control and disturbance to the archers during match play."

FITA is hoping that Delhi 2010 officials can address its concerns before the archery competition begins on Oct. 4.

Finals are scheduled for Oct. 7 to 10.

City of Vancouver May Operate Olympic Village

The city of Vancouver may end up running the Vancouver Olympic Village after three bids to run the property were rejected.

Plans for the Village post-Games was to convert part of the complex into public housing, with assistance coming from the provincial government of British Columbia. However, on Tuesday, B.C. rejected the three proposals from non-profits to run the Village.

Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertsonwas upbeat despite the creation of what he called a "roadblock".

"The city owns the buildings and so we can move forward with finding an operator ourselves and managing this without BC Housing" he was quoted by The Vancouver Sun.

"It's disappointing and frustrating to run into this roadblock. No one can recall running into this before."

He added "It's key that we get people into these units before winter -- that's my goal."

B.C. Housing Minister Rich Coleman said in a statement the province started the negotiations as a "favour" to the city saying "we have been unable to attract a suitable operator."

The ministry said it will "continue to work directly with the mayor to find an acceptable solution."

Several of the non-profits that submitted bids say the were not given an explanation for the rejection.

Three Time Tour de France Champion, Olympian, Fails Drug Test

Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador is provisionally suspended from cycling after news surfaced that he tested positive for a banned substance at this year’s Tour de France, which he won.

The International Cycling Union said Contador was found with a "very small concentration" of clenbuterol a weight-loss drug on July 21.

"This case required further scientific investigation before any conclusion could be drawn," the union said.

Contador defended himself, saying his food was contaminated.

"I’m the victim," he said at a press conference.

"I can speak loud and clear with truth on my side. Justice will be made. This is an authentic mistake. At the end, it’s best that everyone finds out. It’s sad that a sport like ours and sports in general are exposed to scandals like this one because of these regulations."

Contado finished fourth in the individual time trial in Beijing and started, but did not complete the men’s road race.

He also won the 2007, 2009 and 2010 Tours. He could be stripped of his 2010 Tour victory due to his positive test result.

Written by Mark Bisson and Ed Hula III.