London Latest - Met Police Deny Olympics Security Breach; David Beckham Eyes Football Place

(ATR) The Metropolitan Police deny claims that the Olympics security operation has been compromised after confidential documents detailing anti-terrorism discussions were found on a train.

The police said information in the dossier, which reportedly included details of pre-Olympics rehearsals, the names and mobile numbers of police officers and minutes of meetings at which anti-terrorism measures were discussed, were operationally sensitive.

The dossier was found by a commuter on a train in Dartford, Kent, on Jan. 5 and handed to a British tabloid newspaper before being returned to police. The Met Police said one of its officers had lost his bag containing security documents and immediately reported it.

"We do not believe that the bag contained operationally sensitive documents. The documents are now back in police possession," the spokesman said.

News of the security breach came as the Metropolitan Police and Royal Marines took to the River Thames for a five-day Olympic safety and security exercise. Nearly 150 police officers and military personnel are part of the security test, with police boats, Royal Marines vessels and helicopters visibly involved.

Scotland Yard said in a statement that the exercises were "designed to make sure that everyone has the same level of knowledge about the how the river operates and how our tactics work together".

Met assistant commissioner Chris Allison added: "All of our planning is designed to mitigate against potential risks during the summer of 2012, and this is an example of where we will be using specialist military capability to support us.

"This exercise is not in response to any specific threat, but is part of our planning to pre-deploy certain specialist assets to bolster our operation.

"This will be a summer like no other in London. The Thames runs through the very heart of our capital and will be a popular place for people who want to be part of the Olympic spirit. This is all part of our planning to ensure this summer's events take place safely and securely."

The security budget for the Games is around $923 million.

Beckham and Giggs Seek Olympic Selection

Former England captain David Beckham and Manchester United star Ryan Giggs are among 184 of 191 players who have asked to be considered for selection for Team GB men's Olympic football team.

In recent months, LA Galaxy player Beckham has publicly expressed his desire to play for the British team at the Games as one of the three overage players in the U-23 team. Giggs, 38, could fill another of these places.

In December, The Football Association contacted 191 players in writing across the four home nations to determine if they wished to be in the player pool for a place on the British men's team.

After all the furore over the FAs of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales not wanting to field players for the British team amid fears they would lose their autonomy in the eyes of FIFA, only seven of the 191 players indicatedthey do not want to be considered. They are drawn from across the home nations, multiple clubs and age ranges.

Monday was deadline for players to notify The FA if they did not wish to be considered.

Players approached by The FA were not asked to provide a written response to association.

But Around the Rings is told that "a large percentage of those 184 players actually did contact The FA and indicate they want to be considered for the side, even though they didn’t need to".

British Olympic Association communications director Darryl Seibel said: "This is an outstanding response and it confirms what we have believed all along, which is there is widespread interest among players in competing for Team GB at the London 2012 Games.

"Clearly, the players recognise just how special this opportunity is."

Team GB men's coach Stuart Pearce is expected to pick his squad for the Olympics in June.

Ticket Resale Website Reopens

LOCOG announced that the resale platform on the London 2012 ticketing website will re-open to from 3pm today until Feb. 3.

London 2012 organizers will buy them back at face value and resell them to the public from April. LOCOG said it will release further information on the purchase process in due course.

A series of technical problems caused the resale website to crash 10 days ago and LOCOG together with Ticketmaster, which operates the site, have struggled to find a solution since shutting teh system down the same day it opened.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by the suspension of our ticketing resale platform," said LOCOG commercial director Chris Townsend.

"We made a commitment to our customers to give them a safe, secure and legal way of selling Olympic and Paralympic tickets which they are no longer able to use. We are delivering on that commitment, and will buy any tickets that customers are no longer able to use at face value until 3rd February.

"Every ticket we purchase from the public will be offered back to the public from April. We believe this system – purchasing the tickets back from customers now, and offering them again from April, will result in a better customer experience for everyone."

Olympics Experts for Security Conference

The International Centre for Sport Security today confirmed the 2012 Olympics speakers at its annual conference.

The International Sport Security Conference, which brings together key decision-makers, experts and practitioners in sport security from around the globe, takes place in Doha on March 14 and 15.

John Yates, former assistant commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police and David Greer, chief executive of skills for security, a partner of the London 2012 Olympics will be part of the London 2012 panel. Previously confirmed for the panel are Lord John Stevens, former Met Police commissioner and Peter Ryan, an IOC security advisor.

The panel will discuss the key challenges and security considerations for event organisers in London including on-the-ground security requirements, securing new infrastructure, threat assessment and mitigation.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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