British Prime Minister Tony Blair was reported on Tuesday to be ready to back a bid by London to host the 2012 Olympic Games. Government endorsement of the campaign could come next week as ministers rush to put the finishing touches to the project, the London Evening Standard reported.
Whitehall sources say a clear majority of the Cabinet now backs the plan to bring the world’s greatest sporting extravaganza to Britain for the first time since London was asked to host the first post-war Games in 1948.
Now that the war with Iraq is over, Blair wants to push ahead with the plan, which will cost about ₤2,8-billion pounds ($4,2-billion) of taxpayers’ and Lottery cash.
Officials have yet to strike a deal with Lottery operators Camelot over launching a special Olympic Lottery game to raise ₤800-million (about $1,285-million) towards the cost.
Plans to levy an extra ₤550-million (about $883-million) rate on businesses in the capital to help pay for the Games are also likely to be dropped because of opposition from London firms. A supplementary council tax levied on all households in London for six years from 2006 will raise about ₤500-million (about $803-million), while ₤300-million (about $482-million)will be taken from Lottery money earmarked for sport and ₤200-million (about $321-million) from Lottery cash meant for good causes.
The London Development Agency is also set to contribute more than ₤500-million (about $803-million). Blair, who was initially reluctant to give his backing, had been won around shortly before the conflict with Iraq began, but believed
that the time was then not right to fire the starting gun on a
major sporting extravaganza. The Cabinet delayed its discussion at least twice, the last time in the few days before the war started.
With relations between Britain and France at their lowest point for years over Iraq, Blair was reported to be keen to steal a march on Paris, which has also postponed announcing a bid. French President Jacques Chirac has already said he favours a Paris bid but Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe was believed to be trying for a commitment from the central government to his project for a €300-million (about $325-million) Paris tramway by 2006 before he throws his hat into the ring. Paris, which already has most of the necessary venue infrastructure in place, was humiliated by Beijing in its bid for the 2008 Olympics and lost out to Barcelona when it bid for the 1992 Olympics.
Stiff competition will also come from New York, Madrid, Moscow and the Germany city of Leipzig. It has yet to be decided whether Rio de Janiero or Sao Paulo will represent Brazil’s bid. Toronto was understood to be waiting to see if Vancouver’s bid for the 2010 Winter Games was successful.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) chooses between Vancouver, Salzburg and the South Korean city Pyeongchang for the 2010 Winter Games in Prague on July 2. The deadline for submissions for the 2012 Games is July 15 2003, and the IOC will choose the venue for the 2012 Olympics in Singapore in 2005.
Britain’s last major sporting event was the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester which were hailed as a success although reports put their total cost at ₤2-billion (about $3-billion). London was forced to pull out of staging the 2005 World Athletics Championships when the government refused to fund a new stadium.
British Olympic Association chief executive Simon Clegg has put the cost of campaigning for the Games at ₤13-million (about $20,5-million). Blair had previously been worried a London bid might suffer the same fate as England’s disastrous attempt to host the 2006 football World Cup when it was humiliated by Germany.
Britain last bid for the Olympics in 1993 when Manchester made a feeble run against Sydney for the 2000 Games. -Sapa-AFP