London 2012 Olympic Organisers are set to meet their target of raising £2 billion to help stage the Games this summer, according to LOCOG.

Revenue from sponsorship and ticket sales should top initial forecasts, putting the London Organising Committee on course to keep its side of the Olympic bargain, LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

LOCOG will not publish final accounts until after the Games end, prompting criticism from London politicians and British media about a lack of transparency.

“I broadly expect us to break even, said Deighton, who worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs for two decades before joining LOCOG in 2006.

“One way I describe our project is trying to land about £2 billion of revenues, with about £2 billion of costs. We have got committed just over 92 percent of the revenues we need,” he said, adding the remainder should come from ticket sales and merchandising.

LOCOG is largely privately funded, raising money from local sponsors, ticket sales and merchandising. It also gets a slice of funds raised centrally by the International Olympic Committee through global sponsorship and broadcast deals.

Britain has also put up £9.3 billion public funding to prepare for the Games, most of it to build the Olympic Park, which has transformed a rundown area in London’s east end.

Latest accounts showed more than £500 million of public money remained available, with sports minister Hugh Robertson saying the Games should come in under budget.

However, total public spending is more than double the forecast when Britain was awarded the Games in 2005.

Sponsorship deals for the London Games have raised £700 million, a performance Deighton said was “gravity-defying” when the economy had been struggling for growth.

Ticket revenues were expected to top £600 million — above an initial forecast for something above £400 million.

Demand for tickets for the July 27-August 12 Games outstripped supply in many events, leaving many Britons frustrated at not being able to get a seat.

Deighton said sceptical Britons needed “warming up” ahead of the Games which are taking place at a time of heavy state spending cuts and rising unemployment.

He said while 75 pence in each pound of public spending had gone on facilities that would leave a lasting legacy after the Games, Britons needed convincing the Olympics were worth it.

“People accept it is going to be a great party in the summer. But they also want to make sure, particularly in this environment, that it is decent value for money,” he said.

“I think there is still work to be done to get that effectively across.”

The British Olympic Association (BOA) announced on Wednesday Glasgow in Scotland will bid for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

The BOA will now formally submit its intention to bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by 1 March 2012.

As Host City of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow will have much of the necessary sporting, accommodation and transport infrastructure already in place, as well as the recent experience of delivering a high profile international multi-sport Games.

That’s one of the reasons why the BOA Board made its decision to support the submission from Glasgow as a potential Candidate City.

The BOA also believes that hosting the 2018 Youth Olympics is a great opportunity to further extend the youth, sporting and educational legacy of the London 2012 Games.

Over the forthcoming months the BOA will work together with officials from the city of Glasgow and the Scottish Government to further develop and progress the submission before the candidature file is delivered to the IOC in October 2012.

Ultimately, the IOC will produce a short list of Candidate Cities in January 2013, before announcing the winning Host City in the summer of 2013.

“The Youth Olympic Games have quickly established themselves as an important and inspirational event in the international sporting calendar. We know the bidding process will be highly competitive, but we are confident that in Glasgow we have an outstanding Candidate City,” said BOA Chairman Colin Moynihan.

The 2018 YOG will involve approximately 3,600 young athletes, aged 15 -18, participating across all of the 28 summer Olympic sports in 12 days of competition.

The inaugural Youth Olympic Games took place in Singapore in 2010, and the first winter YOG was held in Innsbruck earlier this month. The second editions are due to take place in Nanjing, China in 2014, with the winter version being held in Lillehammer, Norway in 2016.

The athletes will not only compete at the highest level of international youth sport, but will also take part in a Culture and Education Programme, which is a core element of the Youth Olympics.

by Ismail Uddin

Doha have revealed plans to host the 2020 Olympics in the month of October to avoid the searing summer heat in Qatar, unhealthy insisting the conditions will be “ideal” for athletes and spectators.

Under Doha’s bid plans disclosed Monday, the Olympics would be held from Oct. 2-18 and the Paralympics from Nov. 4-15.

The dates were disclosed as organizers released details of the bid file that was submitted last week to the International Olympic Committee. Doha is among five cities bidding for the 2020 Games.

Doha, bidding for a second consecutive time, is hoping to bring the Olympics to the Middle East for the first time.

“There is no denying the honor of staging the greatest sport event on earth and being the focal point of the sporting world,” said Sheik Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the general secretary of the Qatar Olympic Committee and vice chairman of the 2020 bid.

“Our bid is all about legacy, for our nation, the region and the world,” he added. “Doha is doing everything possible to deserve that honor. We have the determination and resources to meet every responsibility. What is more, the timing is perfect.”

Doha is competing against Madrid, Tokyo, Istanbul and Baku, Azerbaijan.

After studying the bid files, the IOC executive board will decide in May whether to accept all five candidates or reduce the field. The full International Olympic Committee will select the 2020 host city in Buenos Aires in September 2013.

Doha failed to make the IOC shortlist for the 2016 Olympics because of concerns over the weather and moving the games outside the regular July-August dates. Its bid also suffered because so little of the sports facilities had been built and over its failure to consult with federations before submitting it.

However, the IOC agreed last year to Doha’s request to bid for 2020 within a Sept. 20-Oct. 20 time frame, which would avoid the worst of the summer heat in Qatar, where temperatures can exceed 104 degrees.

Monday was the first time Doha confirmed the specific Oct. 2-18 dates.

The Doha bid committee said the dates would “ensure ideal conditions for athletes and spectators.”

Holding the Olympics in October could pose conflicts with television and other sports, including European football and the NFL, which would be in full swing at the time. Al Thani dismissed such concerns, saying that eight years was plenty of time to adjust the sporting calendars.

It wouldn’t be the first time the Olympics have been held later in the year.

The 1956 Melbourne Games were held from Nov. 22-Dec. 8; the 1964 Tokyo Olympics from Oct. 10-24; the 1968 Mexico City Games from Oct. 12-27; the 1988 Seoul Olympics from Sept. 19-Oct. 2; and the 2000 Sydney Games from Sept. 15-Oct. 1.

Qatar has already won the right to host the 2022 World Cup. The event will be held in June, and the desert country has proposed air-conditioned stadiums to beat the heat. Concerns over the weather, however, have prompted several top footballers to call for the 2022 World Cup be moved to winter.

Qatar has discussed holding the Olympic marathon events in the early morning or late in the day when temperatures are cooler. It also has submitted a file to the IOC that includes temperature data and competition schedules.

Al Thani said “most” of the 28 summer sports federations have agreed on the dates.

Qatar also is framing its bid as a chance to bring the Olympics to a new region. It also has promised the games would be a boost to women’s sports, using the event on Monday to announce that it will use IOC wild card invitations to send swimmer Nada Arkaji and sprinter Noor al-Malki to the London Games. Two other women athletes could also be added to the list.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Brunei have never sent women athletes to an Olympics.

“Sport has changed my life and I know that if the games were to come here, many more young lives would be changed for the better,” Arkaji said. “To swim at Doha 2020, here in Qatar in front of my own supporters, would be special beyond words. Not just for me, but for every aspiring young girl and boy who wants to take up sport in the Middle East.”

Qatar, which has budgeted $73 million for Doha’s bid, is flush with cash from its vast oil and gas reserves, which gives it a clear economic advantage over the likes of rivals Madrid and Tokyo, which have been hit hard by the global economic crisis. Rome pulled out of the bidding last week when the government refused to provide financial guarantees.

Qatar, much like the United Arab Emirates, has used sports as a vehicle to showcase its global aspirations. Doha hosted major sporting events like the Asian Games in 2006 and annual tennis tournaments featuring many of the world’s top-ranked players. In 2011, the capital hosted the Asian Cup football tournament in January and the opening Diamond League track meet in May, as well as major tennis and golf tournaments.

by Ismail Uddin

The 36 clubs and capital companies of the League Association will all receive a share of the profits earned by the German Football Association (DFB) at the World Cup finals in South Africa.

Our top movers this month was Heidi Ueberroth (pictured, left) who stepped down as NBA International President while Marius Vizer (pictured, right) was re-elected International Judo Federation President.

Our Full List here (in no particular order):

With six months to go to the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games, order the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) have confirmed that Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, will open the London 2012 Paralympic Games in the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday 29 August.

With the role of The Queen in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games on Friday 27 July already established, The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, will now open both Games. As Head of State, The Queen will proclaim the Paralympic Games open by saying: ‘I declare open the London 2012 Paralympic Games’.

This will be the first time The Queen has opened a Paralympic Games. In 1976 the Queen opened the Montreal Olympic Games and in 1956 The Duke of Edinburgh (on behalf of The Queen) opened the Melbourne Olympic Games.

The 1984 Paralympic Games were officially opened by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. These Games were held in both Europe and North America, with the Opening Ceremony in Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire – the birthplace of the Paralympic Games.

LOCOG Chair Seb Coe said: “This summer we will be hosting the largest Paralympic Games ever and the Opening Ceremony on 29 August will be a fantastic event. The Paralympic Games will undoubtedly be a time of extraordinary pride for our nation, and it is fitting that Her Majesty will declare us underway.”

International Paralympic Committee President Sir Philip Craven added: “I am delighted that Her Majesty The Queen will be opening the Paralympic Games, further underlining the significance and status of these Games not just to the Commonwealth but to the whole world.”

by Ismail Uddin