London 2012 Olympics: IOC asked to intervene as Olympic funding dispute escalate

An embarrassing and bitter multi-million-pound dispute between two key parties on the London 2012 Olympic Games Board has led to the intervention of the International Olympic Committee and could yet be settled in court.

The British Olympic Association (BOA) and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) have not been able to agree on whether net costs involved in the staging of the loss-leading Paralympic Games should be separated from any operating profit of the Olympic Games.

The BOA, which is due 20 per cent of any surplus, believes the costs should be separate while Locog disputes this and yesterday highlighted its vision of “one festival of sport” integrating theOlympics
and
Paralympics.

The IOC has been asked by the BOA to act as a mediator in the dispute but the terms of its involvement have not been agreed.

The IOC insists that it will issue a final and binding ruling, but there is still a possibility that the matter could go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport or a civil court.

At stake is a three-way cut of any Olympic surplus – 60 per cent of which will be a trust fund to help pay for the country’s sporting facilities and grassroots sports, 20 per cent will go to the BOA and 20 per cent to the IOC.

If the Olympic Games made a paper profit of up to £400 million, a figure previously flagged up to the IOC, the amounts in question could be £240 million for the sports legacy, £80 million for the IOC and £80 million for the BOA.

In correspondence sent by the BOA to the IOC reference is made to a predicted Olympic surplus of £300 million.

The BOA believes that including the net costs of staging the Paralympics into the profit will significantly reduce this figure, damaging further its financial position.

Locog, meanwhile, insists that suggestions that the Games will make a profit are wrong and that, anyway, the incremental costs of staging the Paralympics will be fully covered by Paralympic-related revenue and Government contributions.

The interpretation of what the profit should include will also influence the payment of a £5 million marketing fee due to the BOA now that Locog has raised more than £700 million from sponsors.

Locog sources say the payment of that £5million is due only if the Games make a profit overall, including the Paralympics.

The dispute is increasing tensions on the Olympic Games board, which is moving into a key operational phase. Lord Moynihan, the BOA chairman, and Andy Hunt, the BOA chief executive, have been asked to absent themselves from some Olympic Board meetings because of a possible conflict of interest raised by the dispute with Locog.

“I am very disappointed as we have been working for a very long time to resolve this amicably,’’ Moynihan told
Telegraph Sport, rejecting any suggestion he was “anti-Paralympics’’.

“For 20 years I have been a strident supporter of the Paralympics. It is clear to everybody the Paralympics will take time to become profitable and that is why the Government underwrites the costs of the Paralympics ... but it is wholly erroneous that Locog takes money from the Olympic Games for the Paralympics because the Paralympics is wholly underwritten.

This is about making sure we have an ongoing sporting legacy for the entire country and that Locog honours its agreement it made with us.

‘’We think it is a very straightforward interpretation of a contract, but it is very very important for the sports legacy. On a personal basis we have a strong relationship with Seb Coe and the IOC and this is not a personal issue, but about the contract and about the principles of looking after the interests of athletes and a sporting legacy.’’

On Wednesday Locog issued a statement saying: “The vision for London 2012, created by the BOA, Government and the Mayor of London and set out in the bid book is for one festival of sport, with an integrated Olympic and Paralympic Games, underpinned by a single budget. It is sad that this vision is now disputed by the new leadership of the BOA.”

Telegraph Sport
has obtained copies of the joint marketing agreement and the host city contract, both of which were signed in 2005, which appear to support the BOA’s position although the bid “vision’’ historically had been about a joint Olympic-Paralympic bid.

The wording in the joint marketing agreement between the BOA and LOCOG refers to “the Games’’ and its definition is then explained in the host city contract, which states the Games refers to the “Games of the XXX Olympiad in 2012’’.

The Paralympics is dealt with in a separate agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and Locog. Neither the British Paralympic Association nor the IPC are parties to the contracts in dispute.

The BPA said: “The BPA remains supportive of the original vision for a festival of sport integrating both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

2012年伦敦奥运会：国际奥委会要求介入奥运会的资金，纠纷升级

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