Olympics: Ethics team drop to probe into London bid

The probe into financial incentives offered to sports bodies in London's 2012 Olympic bid has been dropped, the International Olympic Committee said yesterday.
The IOC's ethics commission had been asked by president Jacques Rogge to look into London's offers of free flights and financial assistance to sports federations and national teams worth about 15 million ($40 million).

However, London, which is bidding against New York, Paris, Madrid and Moscow to stage the 2012 Games, withdrew the package of offers after Rogge warned them off igniting a bidding war in the lead-up to the July 6 vote.

"London reflected and decided to withdraw their package of offers," IOC communications director Giselle Davies said yesterday.

"So for us, the book is closed. There is no longer anything for the ethics commission to look into ... the matter is finished."

Davies said the ethics panel would send a "routine follow-up letter" to the five bidding cities "to clarify the bidding rules".

London showcased its incentives at a conference in Berlin last week. The inducements included a US$50,000 ($70,200) credit to each national Olympic committee towards the cost of using British training camps, air fares for team members and discounts for shops and theatres.

New York had also offered sports federations a chance to gain a foothold in the US market, but their bid team was cleared by the ethics commission.

- REUTERS