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Athletes fear cost cuts will harm 2012 village
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent22 Oct 2008
CONCERN is growing among nations due to compete in the 2012 Games that our Olympic village will not be up to standard.
Fears that corners will be cut on athletes' accommodation as chiefs struggle to contain costs during the credit crunch have been raised by scores of nations at an Olympic summit in Mexico.
Plans to scale down the village by a third as revealed in the Evening Standard are expected to dominate tomorrow's meeting of the Olympic board and will be high on the agenda when the International Olympic Committee visits London next month.
Colin Moynihan, chairman of the British Olympic Association, said he had been approached by counterparts planning to bring teams to 2012 at a summit in Acapulco which he attended this month.
He told the Standard: "It was raised in Mexico, it will be raised at the board and you can be sure that it will be raised by the IOC. These nations need assurances that the village will have the right design, that it will be comfortable and well fitted out and that there will be enough open space.
"This is not about five-star accommodation or even four-star but the need for athletes to live comfortably and relax so that they can perform at their peak. You cannot underestimate the importance of the village."
Lord Moynihan, who was speaking after his re-election as chairman of the BOA, said his officials would check the latest village designs against pledges set out in London's bid book submitted almost five years ago.
The village has borne the brunt of the credit crunch as developer Lend Lease has struggled to raise its £450million share of the £1billion cost.
Already the Government has approved £95million from the contingency fund to keep the project on track during the economic crisis and yesterday ministers said they would not be able to finalise a public-private deal this year. The ministerial Funders' Committee which controls the £2.7billion contingency fund and is chaired by Chancellor Alistair Darling, will meet in the New Year.
The credit crunch is expected to dominate tomorrow's meeting of the Olympic board. Members will be presented with a cost analysis of the temporary equestrian, shooting and basketball venues by accountants KPMG.
Reader views (6)
The last great Olympic village in White City, London turned affordable housing is now home to fantastic crack house facilities which have been dogging the honest people living nearby for years. Good luck Stratford!
- John Patino, London, 23/10/2008 00:04
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It must have been really tough having to sweat all the way to Acapulco to discuss this: did nobody think of setting up a conference call, or setting up an online thread like this one? (Total cost: zilch) I was about to say that these people don't know how to spend money, but very obviously they do!
I'm glad that Lord Moynihan got re-elected: who by, just for interest?
- Mdj, Leyton, e10 london, 22/10/2008 23:13
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Never mind whether the accommodation is good enough for young and healthy gym bunnies for a two week junket. The important thing is whether it is good enough for the working people of east London to live and bring up their children for the next 90 years?
- Ca Metcalfe, East London/Essex, 22/10/2008 17:36
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Never mind the fact that we would be a laughing stock to the world if build dodgy accommodation. We cannot afford to scrimp on the accommodation - this accommodation presumably will either be sold or use as social housing stock and is the really useful part of the legacy to be left by the Olympic project - if we cut back on accommodation we are going to end up with more sink estates rather than housing people are either going to want to buy or be proud to live in. If we can spend billions on saving the banks lets make sure we spend money on our future housing in East London to do the job properly.
In addition we should remember that in 2012 hopefully the economy will be much stronger and on the rise again. I would have thought the construction companies would have been delighted to have a guaranteed project (and be able to do it at a fixed cost) to get them through these difficult times when their other projects are being put on ice.
- Andy, London, 22/10/2008 12:29
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Get real people, this is a two week event not a world crisis. Maybe in the current economic outlook we shouldn't even be spending on new white elephants but should refurbish and use existing facilities.
- Jl, London, 22/10/2008 11:58
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Hmm,they have every reason to be concerned. Actually I'm pleased this grim news is spreading far and wide.
Personally, I'm loving every minute of this farce. Forget the pomp and Union flags and let's look at the reality.
WE CAN'T AFFORD IT!
Rule Britannia? Ha!
- Steve, London, 22/10/2008 11:55
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