Controversy has reared its ugly head today as the promised high-speed rail link that helped Pyeongchang win the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympics has been scrapped by the government.

There is also an insinuation that they may not been a high-speed link planned at all. The Pyeongchang bid’s references to a new link was regarded as key to it winning the favor of International Olympic Committee delegates in July last year, when it easily defeated European rivals Munich and Annecy.

That bid victory came despite concerns among some delegates about the relative isolation of the city, which is 111 miles from Seoul and 155 miles from the main international airport at Incheon.

At the final presentation made to IOC delegates, Pyeongchang reiterated that travel time between the airport and the venue would be reduced to 68 minutes thanks to new track that would accommodate the country’s high-speed trains, known as KTX. This claim had earlier been aired in numerous interviews conducted by bid chairman Yang Ho-cho. 

But it is expected that tourists arriving at Incheon Airport in 2018 will have a trip to Pyeongchang that is 93 to 107 minutes longer than the 68 minutes initially anticipated.

Yet on Wednesday the Joongang Daily — one of the country’s leading newspapers — reported that the government had decided to scrap the project.

Concerns over an estimated cost of $8.7 billion and doubts over how much demand there would be once the games were over led to the decision, according to the report.

The Transport Ministry reacted to the report by saying the high-speed link had never been considered.

“It is not true that the government decided not to build a high-speed railway that would take 68 minutes from Incheon International Airport to Pyeongchang because the plan never existed,” a ministry statement said.

The ministry went on to say that the plan had always been to build a high-speed railway between Wonju in the west of Gangwon Province and Gangneung in the east.

A similar stance was taken in a subsequent news release issued by Pyeongchang’s Organizing Committee, which blamed the confusion on inaccurate media reporting.

“This announcement puts to rest the recent speculations of the local media, which had reported inaccurately that the government was not supporting the new high-speed railway which they thought would cover the distance between Incheon and Gangneung,” the committee’s statement said.

“During Games time, the existing tracks linking the Incheon International Airport, Yongsan (within Seoul), Deokso and Wonju would be enhanced with a new operating system to ensure the shortest possible travel time.”

cough | helvetica, sans-serif;”>Westfield shopping centre in Stratford will be under stringent security checks leading up to the Olympics due to its proximity to the Olympic Park, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) announced.

The vehicle screening process has already started this week until the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in September 2012.  

LOCOG will be working with its security provider G4S to operate vehicle screening areas, providing security checks on vehicles.   

The screening areas will be similar to others that operate at shopping centres in secure areas and will be based at Warton Road, Penny Brookes Street and the Lea Interchange off the A12. 

Vehicles selected for a search will be directed out of the traffic flow to be checked before continuing their journey into Westfield car parks.  

Over the last 10 months, London 2012 has undertaken a local consultation and communications programme aimed at local residents, especially in the Warton Road area, to ensure the plans have as little impact as possible on the daily lives of local residents.  

LOCOG CEO Paul Deighton said: “Delivering a safe and secure Games is a key priority for everyone involved in London 2012. With Westfield so close to the Olympic Park and with vehicle access to it directly accessed from the Park, it is an obvious and important part of our security plans.  

“We will make the checks as quick and unobtrusive as possible – we are confident that shoppers will recognise the need for us to be vigilant and carry out these checks.  We are also committed to working with the local community to ensure that vehicle screenings have a minimal impact on their daily lives.”

The Westfield shopping centre is due to open on 13th September 2011 and has over 4 million people within 45 minutes of the centre.

Westfield Stratford City is ready for its opening with 5,000 car parking spaces and the latest parking guidance technology

UK betting firm Betfair has appointed Big Al’s Creative Emporium as its strategic and creative agency following a competitive pitch.

The new agreement will mean that Big Al’s will be ending its relationship with rival bookmaker Paddy Power after success in a pitch process led by Matt Booth, Betfair’s head of UK Marketing.

A multimillion annual media spend confirms Betfair’s intention to further accelerate the growth of the business and Booth stated: “We’re delighted to be working with Big Al’s to help shape our strategic direction. 

“It’s an exciting time for Betfair as we continue to build our brand, and roll out innovative and creative marketing campaigns.” 

Big Al’s has expertise in the sports and gaming industries, having previously worked with brands including Setanta Sports, PokerStars, King.com, Capital Spreads, The National Bingo Game Association, and Paddy Power.

Stef Jones, Creative Partner, spoke of the immediate appointment: “We’re very proud of the previous work we’ve done in the betting and gaming industry, and Betfair represents a great opportunity for us to continue this. We can’t wait to get stuck in.”

A statement from Codere read: “Authorised gambling operators in Spain are not permitted to advertise or may only do so subject to stringent restrictions and after obtaining authorisation from the authority.

“Neither are authorised operators able to operate games through the internet, although they have the necessary technology and expertise to do so, since these games are prohibited in Spain and in some cases may be activities liable for prosecution in the context of criminal law.”

The exclusive rights for the live streaming of ESPN Star Sports’ coverage of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup 2011 have been awared to telecom services provider Vodafone Essar.

As part of this deal, Vodafone’s customers will be able to watch ball-by-ball live coverage of all 49 ODI’s on their mobile phones via ESPN Mobile TV. Vodafone has been named co-presenting broadcast sponsor for ESPN Star Sports’ coverage of ICC CWC 2011, making the company one of the biggest sponsors of India’s most popular sport this season. It is also the co-presenting sponsor of IPL besides being one of the on-ground sponsors.

Having secured the on-air broadcast sponsorship rights of ESPN Star Sports’ coverage of the ICC CWC 2011, Vodafone has created on-air advertising campaign  for this event after reportedly paying US$9.85m for the co-sponsorship rights.

Vodafone released a statement, reading: “Vodafone’s interest in the cricket season in 2011 is a continuation of this same belief to capitalize on large cricketing events like the World Cup, thereby reaching out to a very large cross section of audiences, cutting across diverse geographies.”

Kumar Ramanathan, Vodafone Essar CMO, added: “The 2011 cricket season in India coincides with an exciting time in the telecom industry when MNP and 3G are buzz words and the entire consumer base is being wooed afresh by incumbent and new competitors alike. Through this association with ESPN Star Sports to provide live streaming of its ICC CWC 2011 coverage, we continue to engage our customers in a more meaningful and relevant manner, that enriches the service experience.”

Alexey Sorokin, Russia’s World Cup bid chief, says England’s reaction to his country winning 2018 hosting rights was regrettable and that the team didn’t know ‘how to lose’. He claims the bid team ran a clean race and that Russia is now ready for scrutiny to intensify as preparations begin.

England’s shock elimination in the first round of the FIFA vote on Dec. 2 prompted bid leaders to criticize FIFA’s bidding process after securing just two votes in what reports revealed to be the best technical bid.

“They [England] had a good bid in general. We regret that it turned out this way. But you have to know how to lose too,” Sorokin said in an interview with Russia Today.

“We think our bid is totally within FIFA’s philosophy, that is to move the World Cup to new regions, to open up new horizons to expand the power of football.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) hopes to break the billion-dollar mark for revenue from top sponsors by the time of the London Olympics in 2012, ed IOC marketing head Gerhard Heiberg said. The IOC already has $960 million of sponsorship in place for the 2009 to 2012 timeframe and remains confident of adding one or two more major companies by the London Games.

“The market situation has relaxed considerably. I hope that we will reach the billion-dollar mark in the coming year, asthma ” Heiberg told DPA on the verges of the IOC Executive Committee meeting in Acapulco.

The IOC have managed to sign up Dow Chemical and Procter & Gamble in the last four months, bringing the number of top sponsors to 11.

The sponsorship programme brought in $866 million for the 2006 Winter Games in Turin and the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

The International Cricket Council has approved (ICC) has provisionally approved the introduction of a Test League, it has been announced.

The ICC chief executives’ committee (CEC) has recommended setting up a Test league that would include a play-off with the four top teams to crown a champion.

An ICC statement read: “These recommendations seek to give exciting content and context for international cricket within the Future Tours Programme (FTP) after 2012.”

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat added: “We have agreed in principle to exciting and far-reaching proposals to tackle this most important issue.

“Achieving balance and unanimous agreement is not easy but we have responded well to a strategic priority to restructure international cricket.

“The proposals, especially introducing more meaningful context, means we now have the potential to follow international cricket that is even more exciting.”

The ICC wants to introduce the Test league in 2013 and also agreed to a one-day league first running from 2011-14 and separate from the Cricket World Cup.