London 2012 Gets March Deadline For Venues

The International Olympic Committee has handed the London 2012 organising committee a deadline of March 2009 to finalise all the venues to be used at the Games.

Badminton, rhythmic gymnastics and shooting venues are still to be decided as organisers try to keep construction costs low amid the financial crisis.

Organisers may scrap a temporary venue and shift badminton and rhythmic gymnastics to an existing facility. There is also a possibility to move shooting from its present site in Greenwich.

‘We have asked that at least in March all of that will be closed so that we know where all the venues are,’ said IOC Olympic Games director Gilbert Felli.

‘Can we use an existing venue to save the construction of a temporary one? That is a discussion we have with organisers.’

‘There remains one issue on the venue of shooting. Now there are some discussions to see if there is another land… that could be used.’

With the British government under pressure to keep costs down after the Olympic budget spiralled from an initial estimate of £2.4bn to £9.3bn, fencing and volleyball have already been moved to existing permanent sites.

Felli said the IOC was not concerned with the cost-related issues linked to the Olympic village as the government is scrambling to raise private funds for the project and saying some contingency funds were necessary for the project.

‘We received information that some part of the contingency fund was necessary,’ he said. ‘That is why you have a contingency fund.’

Funding to build a media and broadcast centre is also uncertain, with organisers considering locating the facility instead in a new shopping mall outside the Olympic Park.

The IOC also decided to use the Hilton Hyde Park hotel as its official hotel during the Games and the nearby Intercontinental as the official National Olympic Committee’s hotel.