London's Olympic bid hit by TV row

Adrian Warner|Evening Standard|In Lausanne

14 April 2012

London's bid for the 2012 Olympics is winning plaudits within the International Olympic Committee, but was given a major headache today when the row over the BBC's Panorama sting exploded again.

Bulgarian IOC member Ivan Slavkov was delivered an expulsion threat by the IOC today after the undercover programme made allegations of "cash-for-votes" deals in the bidding for the 2012 Games.

Slavkov, a senior figure in football as well as in the Olympic movement, was suspended from the IOC in August following the row and it was announced today that he will face being thrown out of the organisation next July at the same meeting where the host city for the 2012 Games will be decided.

That is the last thing London wanted as it tries to allay fears that the inquisitive British media could derail the capital's bid.

The IOC will not comment officially on the London 2012 bid book which was handed into their Lausanne headquarters last week until they publish a report on the five bidding cities in June following visits to each country.

But Olympic insiders have told Standard Sport that the IOC have been very impressed by their first analysis of the 600-page documents. One source described London'sbid as "weighty and certainly-very serious". Experts at the IOC will delve into every detail of the plans in the next month.

However, just as London is gaining ground on favourites Paris, today's decision on Slavkov could spell trouble for the capital at the vote in Singapore. The affair caused huge damage to London's bid just before the Athens Olympics in the summer after it brought back memories of the 1999 corruption scandal which led to 10 IOC members being forced to leave the body for taking gifts during a previous bidding process.

The programme's methods also upset many IOC members because they involved the use of hidden cameras and undercover reporters posing as businessmen from London. At the time several members said the BBC sting would make IOC leaders wary of contact with British officials in the future, making London's lobbying campaign much harder.

London bid chiefs were keen to play down the importance of the Slavkov affair today, saying it is unlikely to affect the bid - -especially if the decision on expulsion is taken after the 2012 vote.

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