Cash row goes to CAS

The bitter cash row between the British Olympic Association and London 2012 has been labelled as 'embarrassing' by former sports minister Richard Caborn, as the feud threatens to get ugly.

The BOA have hit out at the London 2012 organisers for the amount of cash they will receive from sponsorship deals after the Olympics have finished, and they have now taken the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"The fulfilment of this promise is so important to the BOA that we are now seeking a speedy, final and binding decision through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on how the Olympic Games surplus should be determined," said a BOA statement on Thursday.

The IOC had been called in to settle the dispute which centres on the cut the BOA would receive from any surplus cash left over after the Games. The BOA are due to receive 20% of any money left over but claim that the cost of staging the Paralympics should not be taken into account when calculating the surplus.

But as two big parties in the running of the Olympics continue to squabble in public, the more damage is being done to the image of Great Britain running the Games.

"I don't believe it's helpful that the BOA are trying to unpick a deal set six years ago, and which was said at the time to be a good deal," said Caborn.

Involved

"I don't think getting the IOC involved one year out from the Olympics does any good for British sport. It is embarrassing - we don't want to be washing our dirty linen in public.

"The concern is that the BOA are trying to run British sport after the Olympics and there should be a proper dialogue with UK Sport and the Sport England about how sport should be run after 2012.

"I think the BOA have to look at how their finances have been run and what is their legitimate role within British sport. It has to reflect on its finances and what its role is."

The Boa insist that the row will not affect the funding of the Great British athletes taking part in the Olympics, after releasing a statement defending their actions.

"We are engaged in a process with a view to ensuring that surplus resulting from the London 2012 Olympic Games is available to be used for precisely those purposes," read their statement.

"This is about protecting the future for athletes, for sport and for our National Governing Bodies. We are doing exactly what every National Olympic Committee is expected to do: we are safeguarding a future sports legacy in our country.

"This has absolutely nothing to do with addressing our funding requirements for 2011 and 2012. We have a plan in place to generate those revenues and are confident we will do so."

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