A LESSON FOR FIFA ?
Despite the fact that it hasn`t been built yet, there`s a lot of fuss about what to do with the Olympic Stadium once next year`s Games are over. There are competing bids from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and also West Ham United. Spurs want to knock the stadium down, then build a new one on the site that will be for football use only. West Ham want to keep the Olympic Stadium as it is and just move in. And all the while, smaller clubs like Leyton Orient must be concerned about the prospect of one of those big clubs moving closer to their manor.
But there`s a problem. When the Olympic bid was made, there was a clear commitment for the Olympic Stadium to remain as a multi-use facility, as part of the legacy of the Games for the young people of that part of east London and beyond. A decision on the future use of the 2012 Olympic stadium, scheduled for Friday, has been postponed as the Olympic Park Legacy Company says it needs more time to study rival bids from Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham.
Whether the decision is postponed or not, the fact remains that we had at least a moral commitment built in to the successful bid to host the Olympic Games. Indeed, the Chairman of London 2012, Lord Coe, has said, "It's serious that we deliver what we said we were going to unless we're prepared to trash our reputation. It'd be very difficult for us to be taken seriously in the corridors of world sport and arguably beyond if we failed to deliver what we promised." Nice one, Seb.
And therein lies the nub of the issue. For whatever the merits of the competing football club bids may be, surely the important thing is to keep the promise made and, in this instance at least, display a reputation for straight dealing. It seems to me we have an opportunity here to display integrity in the face of divisive financial expediency and if we take that opportunity then we send out a clear message to those other sporting bodies for whom transparency and integrity have perhaps been in short supply recently.
Our reputation as a sporting nation might well be greatly enhanced by hosting a successful Olympic Games, but that reputation can so quickly be tarnished if we go back on a clear commitment for the wellbeing of our young athletes of the future.
But there`s a problem. When the Olympic bid was made, there was a clear commitment for the Olympic Stadium to remain as a multi-use facility, as part of the legacy of the Games for the young people of that part of east London and beyond. A decision on the future use of the 2012 Olympic stadium, scheduled for Friday, has been postponed as the Olympic Park Legacy Company says it needs more time to study rival bids from Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham.
Whether the decision is postponed or not, the fact remains that we had at least a moral commitment built in to the successful bid to host the Olympic Games. Indeed, the Chairman of London 2012, Lord Coe, has said, "It's serious that we deliver what we said we were going to unless we're prepared to trash our reputation. It'd be very difficult for us to be taken seriously in the corridors of world sport and arguably beyond if we failed to deliver what we promised." Nice one, Seb.
And therein lies the nub of the issue. For whatever the merits of the competing football club bids may be, surely the important thing is to keep the promise made and, in this instance at least, display a reputation for straight dealing. It seems to me we have an opportunity here to display integrity in the face of divisive financial expediency and if we take that opportunity then we send out a clear message to those other sporting bodies for whom transparency and integrity have perhaps been in short supply recently.
Our reputation as a sporting nation might well be greatly enhanced by hosting a successful Olympic Games, but that reputation can so quickly be tarnished if we go back on a clear commitment for the wellbeing of our young athletes of the future.
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