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London Olympics hit by 'fat cat' salary row as running costs spiral
Last updated at 10:56am on 10.09.07
Speaking dates: Lord Coe with the controversial 2012 Games logo
Pincess Anne: Paid £4,000
The London Olympics was hit by new controversy last night with claims that senior figures are cashing in with generous fees and salaries.
It emerged that Princess Anne has been paid £1,000 for each planning meeting she attends, while organising chief Paul Deighton received a £100,000 bonus last year.
Until now, criticism of the 2012 Games has focused on the spiralling cost - which has leapt from £ 2.4billion to an estimated £9.3billion - and the financial burden facing taxpayers and Lottery funds.
The latest revelations, in a Dispatches programme on Channel 4 tonight, threaten to open a new front in the war of words. Lord Coe, £285,000-a-year chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, has already threatened legal action over suggestions that his outside earnings benefited from his status.
Channel 4 says that in the two months immediately after London's Olympic bid succeeded in 2005 he was paid almost £200,000 for speaking engagements, product endorsements and consultancy work.
It claims the London-based agency which handles speech bookings earning up to £10,000 for the Olympic gold medallist explicitly refers to his 2012 bid leadership on its website.
The International Olympic Committee's code of ethics bars senior figures from focusing on their official role when paid to speak in a private capacity.
Although Lord Coe is not a member of the IOC, Locog said last night its ethical guidelines mirrored those of the committee.
It insisted that all his outside interests were 'meticulously declared and registered' with the IOC, Locog and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
A spokesman said: "If you try and book Seb for a speech he is speaking as Seb the man.
"He requires all his private speaking engagements to acknowledge in writing that there is no association with London 2012.
"The very clear agreement is that he doesn't get paid for speeches that are about 2012.
"He has been speaking for more than 20 years about his career as an athlete and politician and we believe it's fine for him to continue doing that."
The documentary reveals that Locog chief executive Paul Deighton, the man who commissioned the widely-derided 2012 logo, received £536,000 last year, including a £100,000 performancerelated bonus.
A retired City financier, his personal fortune is estimated at more than £100million.
The Olympic Delivery Authority, in charge of building venues, paid £232,000 for the services of accountant David Leather, a partner at Ernst & Young, for 19 weeks' work last summer - equivalent to £2,440 a day.
Princess Anne, a non-executive director and head of the British Olympic Association, received £4,000 in fees for attending four board meetings lasting a total of around ten hours.
Jonathan Edwards, the former Olympic triple jump champion, was paid £14,500 as a representative for athletes on the Locog board. He also received £87,000 for "consultancy services."
Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain, received £5,000 as another non-executive director.
Locog said board members were paid £1,000 for each meeting.
A spokesman for Princess Anne said: "What the princess does with the payment is a private matter, but you should be aware that the princess makes considerable donations to charity every year from a number of sources of income."
The documentary also accused the Government of covering up a report it commissioned from economist Dr Adam Blake of Nottingham University during the fight for the Games.
He found that, while London would benefit by £6billion, the rest of Britain would lose £4billion as money was sucked into the capital.
The report - which could have ruined London's chance - was buried until after the bid succeeded.
Reader views (24)
From a proud British Engineer in China.
I have been watching the games with my Chinese colleagues and they are so proud of their Government and their Country. I only wish I could feel the same way about the UK. Too many of them said - "wow, you Yingguoren (Brits) have got to beat this?" My only response can be - "somehow I doubt we can." The Beijing Olympics cost around GBP 3.5bn. In my experience anything large scale in China will cost 3 times as much in the UK; therefore the London 2012 project should have a fund of about GBP 10bn. SIMPLE BASIC MATHS. Why is this such a surprise. With foreign debt of GBP 5.25 trillion against GDP of 1.3 trillion the UK is BANKRUPT by any measure. That's why I left in 2005. How can the UK foot the bill for the Olympics whilst facing bankruptcy. I am very proud of being British, but I am desperately saddened at the wicked incompetence of the politicians of the past and present for allowing the destruction of our once Great Country. They should all be fired and prosecuted for their treachery. China has external reserves of GBP 750 billion. They can chuck GBP 3.5bn at their Olympics in the same way as most Brits would buy a new MP3 player. The British Government can't even afford to buy the handkerchief to wipe away the tears of British disappointment.
- Gordon Styles, Zhongshan, China, 10/08/2008 05:21
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Hate to be a clever dick but we have all heard of the phrase 'I told you so' !
- Monica, Portsmouth, 11/09/2007 07:25
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I find it really perverse that for a few weeks of limelight we spend billions on urban regeneration, when this opportunity could have been grasped earlier for less to the same effect. However, without the profile there is no gravy train for the parasites that think they're putting the Great back into GB. I would love to believe the net result won't be substandard accomodation, poorly sited facilities and massive debts underwritten by Londoners for years to come. Perhaps I'm just cynical!
- Matthew, London, 10/09/2007 22:51
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What a terrible waste for London. This should have been decided by Londoners! Last vote I saw on the matter was a distinct majority of taxpayers in London against this project.
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 10/09/2007 21:34
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Let's start the London campaign against the Olympics and Gordon Blair's taxation programme!
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 10/09/2007 20:28
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This must be getting to a danger point on the lottery front. Good causes that were supposed to be the benefactors has largely gone by the board. Should we wonder as to why there is a fall in the community not supporting the lottery as we once did?
- Tony, London, 10/09/2007 17:30
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It could cost £50bn for all I care, this is a fantastic once in a lifetime opportunity to give Britain, London and the people in Stratford something to be proud about.
- Darren, London, 10/09/2007 15:41
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Sean Mark,
What would have encouraged a generation of children to kick the junk food habit in favour of sport and exercise would have not been for Lord Coe and his Tory cronies not selling off school playing fields and the PC brigade effectively ruining competitive sport for youngsters.
The golden age of British athletics did not give rise to a great increase in our world class athletes so what makes you think the back-door taxation of the populace to regenerate parts of East London.
We've been conned and I want a rebate!
- Mark, South-East London, 10/09/2007 15:30
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Isn't it time the Olympics were held in just one place so we could stop this gravy train and the corruption that goes with it. They should find somewhere in Greece for them to be held. Just think of the money that could be saved by every country that has got idiots like this bunch who want to foist the games on the population for their own gain.
- Paul Urban, London, UK, 10/09/2007 14:21
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Quite frankly Peter Bench, even if you hadn't mentioned that you don't live in London, it would have been glaringly obvious. It wouldn't surprise me to hear that you haven't even been to London with the ridiculous comment you've made. Apart from the obvious point, that people will vote for whomever they like regardless of other people's opinion, you would also do well to remember that those of us who put in 14 plus hours a day at work don't have time to brow-beat others into our way of thinking.
- Geraldine, London, 10/09/2007 14:09
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Why are people in this country happy only when they are doing it down? London is the best city in the world. The Olympics are already kick-starting regeneration plans that should have been started 30 years ago. It is attracting inward investment and tourism interest. And will encourage a generation of children to kick the junk food habit in favour of sport and exercise.
- Sean Mark, London, 10/09/2007 13:49
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I didn't want them, nor Peter Bench did I want red Ken and I have yet to find anyone who admits to voting for him.
The few people I know who wanted the Olympics have now turned against them as they feel lied to about the cost and so called regeneration. They are and always were just an ego boost for Ken and Blair.
- Dereck, Greenwich, London, 10/09/2007 13:04
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I don't want the Olympics either.
- Sarah, London, 10/09/2007 12:46
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This makes me really cross especially because of the struggle the Celia Hammond Animal Trust is having to cover their costs for rescuing all the cats that have lost their homes due to the destruction of buildings for the Olympic site.
- Mel, London, 10/09/2007 12:35
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Well, Terry, Fly and others who live, pay taxes and vote in London, you should have thought about that when voting for Ken. Even if you didn't, you should have persuaded more people not to have done so. It is precisely these sorts of financial revelations - even if warranted - that make those of us outside London pleased that our share will be much less than yours. Just remember, Stadium Australia went bust, not once but twice after the Sydney games.
- Peter Bench, London, 10/09/2007 12:34
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I am from London and do not want Olympics. Anybody else?
- Georgie, London, 10/09/2007 11:28
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Hands up all of you who are surprised by this? No one? Didn't think so.
- Philip, London, England, 10/09/2007 11:15
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This is Blair's legacy
- Dave, Wookey Hole, Somerset, 10/09/2007 09:55
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Every so called 'prestige award' given to the UK results in a gravy train. We proved we can win the bid now make a sporting gesture - give them to Paris!
- Roy G, Solihull, England, 10/09/2007 09:20
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These figures are absolutely sickening. After these revelations - and they are only a drop in the ocean - anyone who 'volunteers' at the games needs their head testing.
The Olympics are nothing but big business today, and are irrelevant to most people. It's time they were allowed them to fade away into history.
- Mike, Canada, 09/09/2007 22:45
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Londoners do not want these Olympic games here. It is a mess.
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 09/09/2007 22:16
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If we are doomed to be part of EU why is the EU in total paying not for these Games that will take place in the EU?
- Frank, England, 09/09/2007 12:17
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An Olympics for the people of this country what utter tosh its a gold plated gravy train for the Olympic committee whom are not doing a very good job. Nice to see the money making it to the front line again (not) as with everything in this country it goes only to a select few.
- Fly, London, 09/09/2007 08:33
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Nice work if you can get it, unfortunately most of us just pay for it.
- Terry Roll, London, 09/09/2007 04:41
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