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Saturday, October 30, 2004

Why The UK Won't Be Hosting The 2012 Olympics

London does not stand a "cat's chance" in hell of winning the 2012 Olympics bid:

  • The London transport infrastructure is not up to standard, and will not be in time for the Games.




  • The decision as to who will host the Games will be made next year. The near debacle of the Athens Olympic Games, with regard to delayed construction projects and cost overruns, means that the judging panel will never put themselves in a position like that again. They will be looking for infrastructure that is already in place. The UK does not have that infrastructure in place.




  • The voting panel for the IOC consists of a number of European countries. It is well understood that if the 2012 Games were to be held in Europe, then the 2016 Games (for political reasons) could not be held in Europe as well. Spain, for one, wish to bid for the 2016 Games; they will vote against London and Paris in the 2012 decision.




  • The cost overruns of the 2004 Games, $12BN against budget of $5BN, plus the expected costs of the 2008 Games ($35BN); means that the cost of holding the 2012 Games are prohibitively expensive. It would be lunacy to bid for them, we can't afford them.
In short, the Olympics aren't coming to Britain.

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