IOC Called to Mediate BOA and London ’12 Money Row
March 10, 2011
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been asked to mediate ongoing disagreements over money between the British Olympic Association (BOA) and organisers of the London 2012 Games (LOCOG).
The BOA has claimed it did not get a fair deal when an agreement over sponsorship income was struck with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) in 2005, hospital and is subsequently facing a US$16m funding gap ahead of the Olympics, .
The two parties have been unable to agree on whether net costs involved in the staging of the Paralympic Games should be separated from any operating profit generated by the Olympics.
The BOA is due to receive 20 per cent of any surplus, but its belief that the costs should be separate is not supported by LOCOG.
The BOA has been criticised by some who say that they have embarked on an unnecessary spending spree, with accounts showing that the body’s overall salary bill has more than doubled from $3.2m to $8m million in the last six years.
A statement from the BOA read: “As the National Olympic Committee, our principal responsibility is to safeguard future opportunities for Olympic athletes and sport throughout the United Kingdom.
“We are engaged in a formal process to ensure that any surplus resulting from the London 2012 Olympic Games is used for precisely those purposes. Quite simply, our objective is this: to guarantee that the London 2012 Olympic Games deliver a meaningful post-Games legacy that is beneficial to Olympic sport and athletes, present and future, throughout the UK.”
LOCOG responded with a statement that read: “The vision for London 2012, created by the BOA, Government and the Mayor of London and set out in the bid book is for one festival of sport, with an integrated Olympic and Paralympic Games, underpinned by a single budget. It is sad that this vision is now disputed by the new leadership of the BOA. We are grateful that the IOC is helping to resolve the issue.”