THE PRESIDENT of the International Olympic Committee has expressed satisfaction with London’s preparations for the Olympic Games, despite local fears about security and delays in traffic and immigration control.
The upbeat declaration about London 2012 was given after a meeting of the executive board of the IOC which was given a final update a week before the Games open next Sunday.
“I am glad to report immigration is working well, transport time is satisfactory, the athletes and coaches [are] ecstatic with training venues and security is in place,” Jacques Rogge said.
Questioned about the problems that have affected G4S security, Mr Rogge urged the public and media to “move on”, saying: “We were reassured by what we heard from the government, the security arrangements are in place and we are satisfied with that.”
Acknowledging that the Games would cause traffic disruption in London, Mr Rogge said: “For some it will be a difficulty but I believe the nation loves and wants the Games. We will try to keep the problems to as low a level as possible, but I think people will adapt for two weeks.”
Praising the UK’s love of sport, he said: “Going to London, it’s going to the country that invented modern sport in the second half of the 19th century, included sport in its school curriculum, loves sport, knows sport well. This will come out of these Games.”
Meanwhile, members of the IOC identified in an investigation by the Sunday Times into illegal ticket sales will be allowed to attend the Games because the newspaper took too long to hand over details of its inquiries, said Mr Rogge.
“This is a huge file with a lot of people involved and organisations. The rights of the defence require everyone to explain their case. There will be interviews with them and we expect results by the end of September or the start of October,” he said.
Meanwhile, the IOC has resisted calls by some, including US president Barack Obama, for a minute’s silence on Sunday to honour the Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympic Games.
Mr Rogge said the opening ceremony was “an atmosphere that is not fit to remember such a tragic incident”, adding that the IOC would hold a ceremony in Munich on September 5th.
A decision to honour the athletes would almost certainly have provoked walk-outs, or the threats of them, by the Iranian delegation and others.
Despite doubts about the benefits of the £9.3 billion spent by the UK on the Olympics, business secretary Vince Cable said it would offer the country an unparalleled opportunity to sell its wares globally.
“I think the economics of this are broadly positive. It isn’t just that we have tourists coming through anyway and we have a City of London that is already well-known, the fact is that the attention of the world will be focused on the UK in a way that it hasn’t been for years,” he said.
“If you’re an American or a Chinese you’re barely conscious of Britain, but for the next few weeks we will be the centre of world attention. We have an opportunity to display our country to the best possible advantage.”
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has criticised the planned strike on Thursday by UK immigration staff, saying the strike call had been “badly supported” and would be seen by the public as letting down the country.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public Commercial Services Union, said the strike could be averted if the Home Office agreed to row back on spending cuts. He said 8,500 jobs were being cut and 22 per cent of staff at border checks were to lose their jobs.
“We’ve had compulsory redundancy notices being issues to people in passport offices when you cannot get a passport at the moment because the service cannot cope,” he said.
“So, these are not demands about personal gain, they are about defending important services.”
