IOC Fosters Good Will Between NOCs of Israel, Palestine; Stadium Bidding Saga

(ATR) Palestinian athletes will train in Israeli facilities ahead of the London Olympics.

Thursday’s arrangement was brokered by the IOC between NOC leaders from the neighboring but sometimes not so neighborly nations.

In Lausanne were Olympic Committee of Israel president Zvi Varshaviak and secretary general Efraim Zinger as well as Palestinian Olympic Committee president Jibril Rajoub and international relations director Khalid El-Yazji.

The Palestinian delegation also included Tanya Jaar from the International Affairs Desk of the Palestine Football Association and Jérôme Champagne, advisor to the Palestinian Authority for the development of sport and football.

IOC president Jacques Rogge, chief of staff Christophe de Kepper and director of NOC relations Pere Miró oversaw the meeting.

Thursday’s get-together came on the heels of a good will tour of the Middle East made by Rogge last October as well as a first meeting of the Olympic committees on the sidelines of the ANOC general assembly soon after.

Representatives from the NOCs agreed in Acapulco on issues that have to be solved and on bilateral support and exchanges that could be carried out.

One of the most pressing issues is that athletes from Palestine have difficulty traveling back and forth from international competitions.

The countries also discussed sport and funding, two topics rekindled during Thursday’s follow-up.

OCI leaders said they are ready to offer training opportunities to Palestinian athletes, the IOC confirmed without elaborating on the details of such an arrangement.

"In the short run, priority will be given to assisting Palestinian athletes to move towards their dream of taking part in the Olympic Games in London next year," the statement read.

One of the most pressing issues, the difficulty Palestinian athletes face when traveling back and forth from international competitions, was also addressed Thursday.

"The freemovement of Palestinian athletes, coaches, officials and sports material, as well as foreign visiting athletes, was widely discussed and a modus vivendi reached between the two NOCs," said the IOC.

"It was agreed that both NOCs will make an assessment of the current difficulties they face and work together on concrete proposals and a mechanism that would help improve the situation before referring to their respective public authorities."

A third meeting will follow in two months’ time to gauge progress made by the NOCs.

IAAF President Urges Athletics Legacy for London

IAAF President Lamine Diack is pressing hard to keep the athletics track for the London Olympics from being destroyed after the Games.

In a statement coming one week before a decision is made on the post-Games use of the Olympic Stadium, Diack says while "the International Association of Athletics Federations has no vote in the final decision regarding the London Olympic Stadium legacy, we care deeply about what will happen when the Games are over."

Diack recalled comments he made in 2008: "destroying the track would be totally unacceptable".

The Olympic Park Legacy Company is due to announce on Jan. 28 its choice as a permanent tenant after the 2012 Games.A bid from football club West Ham would keep the track, while Tottenham would tear up the track and rebuild Crystal Palace in London’s south as an athletics venue.

In this latest statement Diack reminds London organizers of the promises made during the bid for the Games.

"The crux of the stadium debate for the IAAF focuses on the commitment given by the London bid committee in Singapore in 2005 to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has many members from the sport of Athletics, to retain a sustainable athletics legacy after the London Games," says Diack.

"This promise was not a footnote of London’s bid: it was a core policy of their presentation to convince the Olympic family of their exciting, viable legacy plans. It offered a vision of year round health and fitness opportunities for the local community and a venue to stage national and major international athletics competitions ranging from meetings like the Samsung Diamond League to Area and World Championships," says the IAAF chief.

Diack says the stadium can succeed as a multi-sport venue.

"While concerns have been raised about sightlines for football we should recall that football has often shared with other sports and not just outside the UK. The old Wembley Stadium had a track around the pitch which was not only used for athletics but for speedway and greyhound racing! In the history of FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Champs and Cups, most matches have been played in multi-purpose arenas. Five out of the last six Champions League finals have been held in stadiums with tracks!

"To now demolish the Olympic stadium, throwing away the original £500 million investment of public money seems to me an outrageous proposition, especially in the present world economic climate. Instead, let us keep London’s promise alive and leave an athletics legacy AT the venue with a top football club as a valued partner," Diack concludes.

London Briefs

London 2012 organizers say there are now 12,112 workers building Olympic Park venues and on the site of the adjacent Olympic Village.

Publishing its latest employment figures Thursday, the Olympic Park Delivery Authority said 6,499 workers were busy on the 500-acre main hub of the Games in Stratford, east London.

The Olympic Village workforce numbers 5,381 people.

The velodrome will become the first Olympic Park venue to be completed when it opens next month.

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Written by Matthew Grayson.