IOC Checks on London Progress; BOA Cash Row Rumbles On; Stadium Dispute

(ATR) IOC inspectors began their check-up of 2012 Olympic preparations Wednesday. Talks with British Olympic Association chiefs will include discussion of the British Olympic Association's row with LOCOG over Olympic revenues.

IOC Coordination Commission chair Denis Oswald and the 17-member commission are making their eighth visit since London won the Games in 2005.

The delegation is spending today in briefings with London 2012 stakeholders to get up to speed on progress across the Olympic project.

Since the IOC's last visit in November, the velodrome opened, ticket sales began and the test event program was announced. With less than 500 days to the Games, the IOC will be looking for assurances that all aspects are on track including venue construction, security and transportation.

Oswald, who helped lay the final piece of turf at the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium Tuesday, will visit the cycling venue, aquatics center and Olympic Village on an Olympic Park tour tomorrow.

The ODA told Around the Rings that venue progress was "coming along nicely". Despite the complexity of the wave-shaped roof on the swimming venue that has increased costs, the aquatics center remains on track for completion this summer.

As well as meetings with LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe, CEO Paul Deighton, Olympic Delivery Authority chairman John Armitt and London mayor Boris Johnson, Oswald will hold talks with BOA chair Colin Moynihan and chief executive Andy Hunt.

Heated discussions may take place over the BOA's decision to reject an IOC ruling siding with LOCOG on the split of Olympics revenues. The BOA is taking the case to Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The BOA is entitled to 20 percent of any surplus from the Games but it is demanding a bigger chunk and claims Paralympics costs should not be part of calculations. Oswald said earlier this week that theBOA would not win its appeal to the sport court, stressing that the cash dispute was hurting London's Olympic image.

The IOC is expected to sing London's praisesat a Friday press conference, but its inspection could yet be overshadowed by any further comments Oswald makes about the BOA's appeal to CAS.

Moynihan and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson met yesterday in attempts by the government to broker a peace deal in the legal dispute.

The issue was a major talking point at a BOA meeting of its national governing bodies late Tuesday.

Moynihan described it as an "open, candid discussion".

"Our interest is in making certain there is a meaningful sports legacy delivered for the UK as a result of the London 2012 Olympic Games,"he told reporters. "A legacy that is beneficial to all of sport, Olympic and Paralympic, summer and winter. That’s what the 60 percent share of the post-Olympic Games surplus will be used for – the benefit of all of sport, and sport for all.

"In order to see this legacy delivered, we are simply looking for contracts to be honored both in letter, as understood by our legal team, and in spirit, as understood by those individuals who were members of the BOA Board in 2005.

"We are not looking for a greater share of the post-Games surplus, nor are we looking for more money.

"We are not looking to resolve our funding needs for 2011 and 2012. Indeed, we have a robust plan in place to generate those funds and have great confidence in those plans."

Moynihan said the BOA's appeal to CAS was "never our preferred route to resolution".

"Indeed, we have made a number of attempts to reach an amicable resolution without involving lawyers. We remain open to discussions that will achieve that objective. Our intention remains to find an early resolution to this matter, on behalf of the athletes and sports," he added.

The IOC delegation will tonight be welcomed by Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman, with a visit and reception planned in the Brick Lane area, heart of London's Bangladeshi and Bengali communities. Tower Hamlets is one of the five Olympic boroughs.

Spurs Threaten Legal Action Over Stadium Decision

Tottenham Hotspur are set to take the Olympic Park Legacy Company to court over its decision to hand the London 2012 stadium to arch rivals West Ham United after the Games.

A Spurs statement denied that the club had issued any legal proceedings against the OPLC or any other party in the wake of losing the bid race to the Hammers last month.

But World Football Insider is told by a Spurs source that a legal challenge is likely after feedback has been received from Olympic chiefs about the controversial decision-making process.

For more on the developing story, visit WFI.

Written by Mark Bisson