Hunt Calls For End Of 2012 Cash Dispute

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for an end of the continuing row over funding ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Hunt told the media: ‘This is not the right argument to be having so close to the Olympics in our country’.

‘I think it is an extraordinary thing that just over a year before the Games that we are going into this sort of dispute, which frankly is not going to benefit anyone’.

The dispute between the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the London Olympic Organising Committee (LOCOG), centres around BOA’s demand for a larger cut of any surplus remaining from the Games.

Hunt added: ‘We need to sort it out quickly, it is just very disappointing and I do not think anyone would say it is the right way to be focusing our energies’.

‘The BOA is fantastically important to the success of 2012. It is a massive logistical operation and everyone in that organisation needs to be focused on that challenge’.

The BOA will be supporting around 550 athletes throughout the Games, as well as 450 support staff – who will be providing medical assistance, training advice, and a holding camp.

Hunt concluded: ‘I can’t really see how anyone’s going to be a winner from this because there is no more money’.