IOC Gives London 2012 Glowing Report

The International Olympic Committee has given London 2012 organisers a ringing endorsement of its preparations so far for the Games following a three-day visit to the capital.

IOC inspectors reported that preparations were on time and on budget adding that the work done so far was ‘impressive’ and that the Games were currently unaffected by the recession.

There was a word of warning from IOC Commission chairman Denis Oswald who said attention to ticket allocation would avoid empty seats at venues.

The delegation checked the ‘big five’ Olympic venues including the Aquatics Centre, Olympic Village, Olympic Stadium, the Velodrome and the IBC/MPC, a mixture of permanent and temporary buildings – based in Stratford, east London.

Oswald stated: ‘We can confirm that London 2012 is on the right track. We know the world is going through a difficult time but Locog (London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) had a very strong commercial policy from the beginning and have been able to secure a high amount of sponsorship before the crisis came and have reached £0.5bn.’

Oswald also said it was ‘important’ that the Government had put money into the Olympic Village from the contingency fund so that construction work was not delayed.