Cost Of Athens Olympics Keeps Rising

It seems that, despite the fact that the Athens Olympics ended a year ago, the costs just keep rising.

The Games, seen as the most expensive ever, are now expected to top £9BN.

It seems that many items, spent by local authorities, were simply excluded from the original budget. Doubtless this was done deliberately by the then government, so as to ensure that they got an "easy ride" from the opposition.

The new costs, just submitted by local councils, were not in Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis' estimate last year.

The games have left Greece with a hefty budget deficit of 6.1% of gross domestic product in 2004, breaching the European Union's cap of 3%.

EU finance ministers have given Greece a 2006 deadline to bring its deficit to below the EU limit.

In other words, hosting the Games have totally screwed up the economy.

I wonder if the good people of Greece still feel that the Games were worth it?

Coke Extends Sponsorship

Coca-Cola has extended its Olympic sponsorship for a 12 year stretch up to 2020.

The deal was signed Monday in a ceremony at the Great Wall in Beijing, which will host the 2008 Summer Games.

The agreement starts in 2009 and covers the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, the 2012 Summer Games in London and the games of 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020.

Coke is the Olympics' longest-serving sponsor, dating to 1928.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said:

"The contribution of Coca-Cola to the Olympic movement has always been the model of a true partnership. This is a natural partnership that we hold most dearly."

Coca-Cola chairman Neville Isdell said:

"Our investment in the Olympic Games underscores our faith in the games and how they continue to make our world a little bit better."

Money has nothing to do with it then?

Montreal's Interest In 2016 Olympics

Montreal Mayor, Gerald Tremblay, said that his city will consider making a bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

That year would mark the 40th anniversary of the 1976 Games in Montreal, which ran such a massive deficit that it won't be paid off until next year.

Tremblay said:

"We'll catch our breath first, but a lot of people ask questions like that. We'll do a review (of the world championships), we'll think about it and we'll answer that question when the times comes. I don't exclude anything. On the contrary, watch the last thing I say at the closing ceremony and you'll see the answer to your question is in the affirmative."

Concluding:

"Montreal will not wait another 30 years to renew acquaintances with the world."

Given that financial shambles, I can't but help question the wisdom of the good people of Montreal wishing to host the games again.

Housekeeping Olympics

Teams from 21 hotels in the New Orleans area competed Thursday in bed-making contests, mop-bucket shuffleboard and other contests as part of the ninth annual Housekeeping Olympics.

The event is sponsored by the Crescent City Hotel Executive Housekeepers Association, in conjunction with the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association.

Overall winners in the competition were Hilton Riverside, first place; Astor Crown Plaza, second place; and St. James Hotel, third place.

The team from the J.W. Marriott hotel was named grand winner in the bed-making contest.

Olympic Lottery Launched

The first lottery game to raise funds for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics is to be unveiled.

The National Lottery has to raise £1.5BN for the Games.

To this end, a new scratch card game will be launched today.

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of London 2012, will be joined by Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell and other of gold medal winners to launch the game.

In addition to the scratch card, there will also be internet-based as well as themed around one-off events such as the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Olympic organisers are keen to screw as much money out of people as possible, whilst they are still enthusiastic for the idea of holding the Olympics in Britain.

Once the reality of the costs and disruption sets in, it will be far more difficult to raise money.

Munich Remembered

Steven Spielberg's next film has been given itss a title: Munich.

DreamWorks and Universal, which are co-financing the movie, announced the name Monday for thriller, which covers the aftermath of the killings of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Eric Bana (Troy) stars as a Mossad agent who leads a secret Israeli squad assigned to assassinate 11 Palestinians suspected of planning the killings. Munich co-stars Geoffrey Rush, Daniel Craig and Mathieu Kassovitz.

The film is due out Dec. 23.

Beijing On Target

There are still over 1000 days left until the start of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

However, China is well on target to be ready long before that. Eight of the 11 new venues planned for the Beijing Games are under construction, the rest will started before the end of this year.

Liu Qi, president of the 2008 Beijing Olympic organising committee, said:

"Preparations for the Beijing Olympics are going according to schedule and progressing relatively smoothly..All the venues will be finished in 2007, and surrounding roads and bridges will also be completed on time,".

Drugs

It is amusing to see that that the leaders of the Turin Olympics are worried about the Italian tough anti drug laws.

It seems that doping offences, even in sport, would be treated as criminal.

Good!

It is high time the cheaters in the Olympics got a sharp shock.

Mario Pescante, the government supervisor for the Turin Olympics and an influential member of the IOC, is quoted as saying:

"I do not know what we are going to do about this, but I must find a solution,".

Pescante said that several options are being explored, including an exemption from Italian law for the period of the Olympics.

Nonsense!

Let the law do its job; stop bleating, and imprison the drugs cheats.

Pescante went on to say:

"The problem is not the police in the Olympics. The power of the judiciary, that is the problem. We can't control the judge, we can't control Torino,".

That is a disgraceful attitude, why should the Olympics be above the law?

Four Cities Added To 2008 Olympics

Beijing Olympic organisers have added an additional four cities as official co-hosts for the 2008 Summer Games.

The northern cities of Tianjin, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao and the eastern city of Shanghai will host soccer matches.

The four cities are hoping that their new status would bring urban renewal and renovation, as well as international sporting recognition.

A new 80,000-seat stadium will be built in Tianjin, the closest of the cities to Beijing, while the three other cities would refurbish existing arenas to Olympic standard.

Seven cities are now involved in the 2008 Olympics.

China Launches Satellite

China will launch a micro-satellite next month, especially for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The satellite will monitor the surroundings of the venues in Beijing during the Olympics.

The 130-kilogram satellite will send pictures and messages to the control centre once a week.

London Bombings and The Olympics

A Populus poll carried out for The Times, following the London bombings, has confirmed that most British people continue to back the 2012 Olympics.

59% said that they thought hosting the games in London would increases the danger of a further terrorist attack on Britain.

68% said that the benefits of having the Olympics in Britain would be "well worth" the money the government will spend on the games.

Those living in London and the South East are least pessimistic about the chances of Britain becoming a target for terrorists as a result of hosting the games.

Public support for the Olympics is higher in London and the South East, where most of the sporting events will be held.

Of those questioned in the area, 72% said that they supported the games, compared to Scotland, where support is at its lowest, at 56%.

70% said that they thought the UK would face a "real struggle" to complete the large scale projects on time.

85% said that they thought the cost of staging the Olympics would exceed the current estimates of planners.

Italy To Fight Terrorism

In the wake of the recent London bombings, security looms high on the Olympic agenda.

To this end, Italy has promised that it will fight terrorism "with every tool that we have" to ensure the safety of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

Government officials and Turin organisers unveiled plans for a symbolic "Olympic Truce" for the games next February.

It seems that there have been threats on the internet mentioning Italy as a possible target for future attacks.

Mario Pescante, a government minister and supervisor of the Turin Games, said:

"We're doing everything in our power to ensure that the Turin Games represent a white flag...The other day I took part in a four-hour meeting on security. We will confront terrorism with every tool that we have."

Pescante refused to divulge details of the security plans for Turin.

Valentino Castellani, head of the Turin organising committee, said:

"The safest places in Italy in 2006 will be the Olympic sites...They will be protected and checked before by police, (access) will only be by accreditation, and X-ray security checks will be carried out."

Pescante, who is also an International Olympic Committee member and head of the European Olympic Committees, said that the truce appeal was not "explicitly related" to the London attacks.

Inspired by the cease-fire between warring city-states during the ancient games in Greece, the Olympic truce was reintroduced on a more symbolic level for the 1992 Barcelona Games.

No French Bid For 2016 Olympics

Bertrand Delanoe, the mayor of Paris, is still upset about losing out to London in the race to host the 2012 Olympics.

He has decided not to bid for the 2016 Olympics, saying:

"Paris will not be a candidate . . . and if I can support a South American or an African bid, I will do it gladly,"

The Olympics have never been held in Africa or South America. With the 2012 Games in London, it's unlikely the 2016 Games will be held in Europe.

French Still Fuming Over Olympics

In the true spirit of the entente cordiale, Betrand Delanoe the mayor of Paris is still crying fowl over the decision to award the 2012 Olympics to London.

Delanoe, president of the Paris bid, said that London had not respected the rule of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stating that meetings between bid officials and IOC members should be only informal.

Quote:

"The IOC knows that (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair had written to IOC members to offer to meet them,".

Delanoe said that Blair had then met IOC members in his hotel suite in Singapore, before Wednesday's vote.

Delanoe shrilly squawked:

"Everybody was aware of it and could see it..that's against the rules. I saw people coming out of Blair's suite."

My message to Delanoe is simple:

Shut up, you have lost, get on with your life!

No Wembley Fiasco

Lord Coe, leader of London's successful Olympics bid, promised that there was no danger of the 2012 Olympics in London being plagued by the same problems, which affected the new Wembley national stadium.

The Wembley project almost collapsed, after being besieged by political rows and financial problems in its early years.

Lord Coe said measures would be taken concerning the building of the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, East London, and other Olympic sporting facilities to ensure that no similar problems occurred.

Quote:

"This is a wholly different project and structures will be in place to make sure that government, the British Olympic Association and all the other agents of delivery will work, and will work extremely well."

London mayor, Ken Livingstone, said that the appointment of key personnel to the London organising committee will keep the project on track.

Quote:

"The key thing now is we attract someone with a track record of delivering things to budget. I want to see someone who has done this sort of thing successfully somewhere else in the world...There's no need for someone to be learning it on the way up. We want to bring to London people who have built great stadia without last-minute hitches and cost over-runs..We want the best and brightest people who want to come to help us put these Games together."

Coe added:

"Anybody that is involved in organising and delivering a Games has to be of the highest quality and that was very clear in, for instance, Sydney. We had a number of the Sydney team on board during the bidding process so I know the calibre of the people we are looking for...You don't want to hurry those decisions because you want the right person but we don't sit around for the next year deciding how that is done. It doesn't necessarily have to be someone with Olympic experience, management is a skill that crosses all sorts of environments."

Whatever they promise, it is a sad reality that politicians and long term projects are a recipe for disaster.

Expect to see the costs of the Olympic project explode, and the deadlines fail.