Players boost Paris Olympic bid

Paris today pulled off a PR coup in their increasingly bitter battle with London for the 2012 Olympics as they heralded Chelsea and Arsenal stars as backers of the French bid.

Paris officials chose the high-profile opening day of a visit by Olympic inspectors to announce that Arsenal's Robert Pires, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira and Chelsea's Claude Makelele, William Gallas and Didier Drogba had become ambassadors for their campaign.

A video and pictures of the players together - which was taken in London - was provided to the hundreds of international media who have come to Paris for the visit by the International Olympic Committee's evaluation commission.

The announcement was made as the Paris bid suffered a setback with reports that important bid officials have been caught up in corruption investigations.