On the inside

Inspectors from the International Olympic Committee are under strict instructions not to be seen chatting to the media during next month's visit to London to probe the capital's plans for the 2012 Games.
Apart from an official press conference at the end of the visit - which will be stagemanaged - members of the IOC's evaluation commission have been told to keep quiet about what they really think of the Bid.
The latest word from the IOC is that London's bid book has gone down very well and that Seb Coe and his 2012 team have made huge progress since the capital's transport plans were criticised in a provisional report.
But it is becoming increasingly obvious that the IOC are worried about the British media, which is far more inquisitive than the Press from rival bids Paris, New York, Madrid and Moscow. It is said that the critical British media could easily lose the vote for London in Singapore next July.
Clearly the IOC have forgotten the huge success of the 2000 Sydney Olympics despite an aggressive media. Would the atmosphere in the stadiums have been as good if Australian reporters had not exposed initial plans to sell off the best tickets to corporates? No chance.
Tame reporters don't make good Games. There is no way the Press would allow a London organising committee to sit on their hands for three years like the Greeks did at the start of their troubled preparations for the 2004 Athens Games.

Caborn's weighed down

While France's sports minister Jean-Francois Lamour has been able to concentrate on helping Paris prepare for the IOC evaluation commission's visit, British counterpart Richard Caborn has had controversial changes to licensing laws to worry about. Anybody looking for evidence that the Government doesn't take sport seriously enough need only look at the fact that Caborn and culture secretary Tessa Jowell have had to contend with gambling and pub-closing when both issues belong in the Home Office.

FA fired up by Burns inquiry

Former Treasury official Lord Burns has already begun his crucial review of the Football Association before new chief executive Brian Barwick has even moved into his new office at Soho Square.
Burns has started his investigation into the way the organisation is run by listening to the opinions of movers and shakers at the top of the English game. The review was called after the bad publicity of the sex scandal at Soho Square in the summer.
His relationship with Barwick, who starts work on 31 January, is going to be crucial in the next few months, especially since there are already demands from within the game for the end of an all-powerful chief executive and more sharing of responsibilities. Game on.

Germans are caught in a fix

Betting on sports results, which used to be illegal in Germany, has become a booming business in the last decade. As the Germans prepare to host next year's World Cup finals, the present match-fixing allegations involving a referee have the potential to develop into a huge scandal.
Public prosecutors have already decided to investigate referee Robert Hoyzer, who denies allegations of fixing a German Cup match. But the football authorities are now considering a total ban on betting for players and referees and are desperately hoping this case is a one off.

Paris has designs on Briton

Is it time for Trinny and Susannah to join the London 2012 team?
London is preparing to dress the capital in dramatic style for the Olympic inspectors with buildings and trains wrapped in London 2012 emblems.
But the biggest fashion coup so far has been carried out by Paris, who have signed up British fashion designer Oswald Boateng to kit out their team for the IOC visit and next July's vote.
Even Madrid's decision to put promotional material on the Great Wall of China this week can't match it for cheek.