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The week London's Olympic bid tripped up
For
the team running London's bid to host the 2012 Olympics, this month should
have been a golden opportunity for positive headlines. With exactly 365
days to go before the International Olympic Committee meets on July 6
2005 to agree the venue for the games, London 2012 was ready to mark the
start of the countdown with a series of promotional events.
An announcement on transport plans was prepared, and the bid chairman,
Seb Coe, was dispatched to Heathrow, where a BA jet's tailfin had been
painted in London 2012 livery. Later he was scheduled to meet the racing
driver Juan Pablo Montoya, whose Williams grand prix car was to display
the logo as he drove round the streets of London.
Instead of an easy PR win however, Lord Coe found himself smiling for
the cameras through gritted teeth amid reports that the bid was in disarray
following the departure of his predecessor, Barbara Cassani. The American
businesswoman had been a somewhat controversial choice to head the bid
team when London initially decided to go for the games, and she stood
aside in favour of the double Olympic champion in May after London was
officially adopted as a candidate city. She relinquished the chair voluntarily,
acknowledging that a Briton with a sporting pedigree would be better suited
to selling the bid to the IOC.
Coe seemed the ideal choice to replace her, but Cassani was expected to
continue working three days a week producing the "candidate file",
the vital technical document to be handed to the IOC in November. This
week, however, it emerged that Cassani's effective role was over. Following
IOC criticism of London's initial bid document presented in May, Coe had
appointed MI Associates, an Australian company which worked on the 2000
Sydney Olympics, the benchmark for modern games, to handle the candidate
file. This sidelined Cassani, though officially she continues to be a
vice-chairman working one day a week.
News of her reduced role coincided with publication of a resignation letter
from Jane Willacy, a former colleague of Cassani's at the budget airline
Go, who had been her project manager on the candidate file. In the letter,
sent to bid chief executive Keith Mills, copied to stakeholders at the
Greater London Authority and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport,
and leaked to the Times, Ms Willacy claimed the bid was being derailed
by personality clashes and a lack of leadership.
There was "no apparent decision-making process, and no leadership",
she wrote. "Barbara never had anything but winning the bid on her
agenda... this is not true of others on the bid team ... Those who worry
more about where they will be in August 2005 than the result in July 2005
will never produce the best results. I am also concerned that our public
relations campaign and show of government/public support are wholly inadequate."
Willacy's withering criticism should be seen in the context of her loyalty
to Cassani and the fact that she lost her job as a result of MI's appointment.
Nevertheless, her letter highlighted the tensions between Coe, eager to
stamp his mark on the bid, and Cassani, a hands-on operator apparently
reluctant to let go. It also drew attention to the challenges London has
to meet if it is to stand a chance of winning the games.
London 2012 rejects the suggestion that Cassani's departure left a power
vacuum at the bid's 50th-floor HQ at Canary Wharf. It is true that Coe
and Mills spend a large proportion of their time out of the office, pushing
the bid both in Whitehall and internationally, but insiders stress that
work continues apace despite this. "This bid has real momentum and
we are developing a first-rate candidate file," said a spokesman.
"This week has had its ups and downs, but there is an excellent spirit
in the bid team."
To succeed, however, the bid will have to address weaknesses identified
by the IOC, as well as some pointed out by Willacy. Coe and his advisers
acknowledge this, and the restructuring that sidelined Cassani is intended
to meet the IOC's concerns on transport, siting of venues and the suspicion
that British governments have not in the past backed international sporting
events.
On venues, the IOC felt London's proposal was not compact. As a result,
three far-flung proposed venues - Bisley (shooting), Swinley Forest (mountain
biking), and Alexandra Palace (fencing) - have been scrapped. On transport,
the candidate file will focus much more tightly on what will be provided
for the four weeks of the games, rather than the huge amount of work required
to meet London's daily commuter needs.
There are also talks to raise the level of visible government support
- though there is wariness in No 10 of breaching IOC rules that prevent
lobbying until November, something the prime minister was warned about
after a Commonwealth conference last year. Coe may meet publicly with
Tony Blair before the Athens games next month, and a top government figure
is likely to join the London 2012 delegation in the Greek capital. A 2012
representative attends fortnightly meetings at No 10, while next month
Coe will meet Charles Clarke, John Reid, David Blunkett, and Jack Straw.
Marketing of the bid is also to increase. The budget is limited, but London
2012 flags go up in Whitehall this weekend, and negotiations with the
BAA and the GLA should see the bid logo at airports and on some prominent
buildings soon.
Perhaps the most crucial event for London's immediate chances takes place
in Greece. Athens provides the team with a chance to discreetly push London's
case among IOC members, to promote the bid in the media, and to analyse
the strengths and weaknesses of the 2004 games. Officials hope for a good
Olympics for Britain, on and off the track, and no more distractions as
they turn their attention to the hard work of lobbying.
Hurdles that must be cleared:
- Transport
- The capital's biggest obstacle to victory is its perennial transport
problem. Bid supporters say that with 10 train lines in and out of the
Olympic "precinct" in the Lower Lea Valley, transport is a
plus. Those who use them disagree. "Green" phasing of traffic
lights on routes for Olympic competitors and officials through the city
is planned, but the IOC will want assurances that upgrading of lines
will be finished by 2012.
- Venues
- Compactness is the buzzword. For reasons of security, safety and cost,
the IOC wants venues as close as possible, within reason. It will accept
tennis at Wimbledon, sailing in Weymouth, and football in the regions,
but almost everything else will be in east London.
- Profile
- After several shambles, including Pickett's Lock, the 2006 World Cup
bid, and delays on the new Wembley, the IOC has to be convinced that
Britain is a serious player in international sport. Unequivocal backing
from PM required.
- Internal
affairs - Athens has been a headache to IOC, not least because of infighting.
London will get nowhere if bickering does not stop.
Source:
The Guardian, Saturday 10 July 2004
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