London Update -- Blair Says Olympics "Worthwhile"; Nortel Collapse Costly to LOCOG

Tony Blair campaigning for the London 2012 bid at the 2005 IOC Session in Singapore. (ATR)Blair Says Olympics “Worthwhile”

Tony Blair, whose personal intervention in Singapore in 2005 when he was Prime Minister is credited with doing much to sway IOC members to choose London to host the 2012 Olympics, maintains that Britain would not hesitate to bid for the Games again today, even in the present global economic crisis.

Speaking on BBC radio, Blair said, “When the Olympics happens, for those weeks and in the run-up, it is the major event in the world.

“There is no doubt at all it is going to be worth London's while to have hosted the Olympics, which is why there is such strong competition now for any Olympic bid.”

Blair, who stood down in 2007 after 10 years in Number 10 Downing Street, spoke in admiration of the work being done by London Olympic organizers.

“They're ahead of schedule on most of the building, which is incredible at this stage, and the preparations are going extremely well. If you take where most bids have got to at this stage, they have done a remarkable job. The delivery of the infrastructure and the stadiums has been done superbly.”

London Credit Crunched Over Nortel Deal

The loss of Nortel as one of the official sponsors of the 2012 Games could cost London organizers up to $30 million, according to media estimates.

LOCOG announced Friday that Cisco would replace Nortel in providing the technical infrastructure for the communications systems to be provided by another Olympic partner, BT.

The parting with LOCOG has been described as amicable, but comes because of the London organizers’ concern that the Canadian company – which continues as a sponsor of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics – would not be able to meet all requirements.

Nortel filed for Chapter 11 protection in January, as a result of the global downturn, and has since been selling off parts of its business.

While Cisco will provide around $32 million-worth of goods and services for LOCOG, under the deal the California-based company will be only a second tier sponsor, while Nortel was a Tier One sponsor, paying $60 million in cash and services.

London 2012 insists that its overall budget will not be affected. London’s sponsorship target is around $1.1 billion, with $800 million on the books.

Nortel is the first sponsor that London 2012 has lost. The cancellation of the Nortel deal brings the number of main domestic sponsors down to six: Adidas, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF Energy and Lloyds TSB.

Cisco joins Adecco, Cadbury and Deloitte in the second tier of sponsors.

Coe Says Government Cuts Will Not Affect Olympics

Sebastian Coe, chairman of LOCOG, has refuted press reports that cut-backs in U.K. government spending will impact the 2012 Games.

“The budgets are set so stories that the Olympics might suffer from cuts in public spending are inaccurate,” Coe said.

“The budget for the infrastructure is set, remains in place and is resilient. The budget for staging has nothing to do with public spending. We have to raise every penny we spend from the private sector. We've got our partners and sponsors in Olympic legend and Laureus World Sports Academy member Daley Thompson at 10 Downing Street with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell and Laureus Academy members Boris Becker, Gary Player, Hugo Porta and Steve Waugh. (Getty Images) place, so it really doesn't impact on us at all.”

Coe emphasized that LOCOG had hit 70 percent of its sponsorship target, “so financially we're in good shape”.

Double Olympic Champ Thompson Gets On His Bike

Coe was among a range of leading sporting figures to join Daley Thompson on a campaigning bicycle ride half the length of England.

Thompson, the 1980 and 1984 Olympic gold medal-winner in the decathlon, Tuesday finished his 367-mile bike ride, from Manchester to London, by delivering a report to Prime Minister Gordon Brown which recommends using sport to tackle youth crime and gang violence.

Briefly…

… Ken Livingstone, a vital member of the 2012 bid team when he was London Mayor, said in an interview with Bloomberg that he wants to run for office again in 2012. Labour-supporting Livingstone, 64, Greater London’s first elected mayor, lost the job to Conservative Johnson in elections 14 months ago.

... Organizers of December’s ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena, a 2012 Olympic venue, have innovative plans for the players to avoid London’s clogged roads. In March, boxer David Haye was forced to walk home after his fight with Enzo Maccarinelli, so bad were the traffic jams near the north Greenwich isthmus. But Roger Federer, Andy Murray and the world’s other top tennis players will have no such difficulties: they will be shuttled back and forth from their hotel at the Marriott County Hall by high-speed ferries on the River Thames.

Written by Steven Downes

For general comments or questions,

click here