Government to intervene in Olympic cash row

British Olympic Association chairman Lord Moynihan said he was confident mediation would help resolve the legal dispute.

“I can report that good progress was made over the weekend and, at our request, the Government has agreed to a meeting to find an amicable resolution to the current contractual dispute,” he said.

The announcement came as the BOA announced a group of 27 British Olympic champions to act as ambassadors and mentors to athletes in the run-up to the London Games.

Channel 4’s Keme Nzerem explains how the contractual row, which centres around profits and the cost of running the Paralympics, is threatening to undermine the very values the Games are based on:

At the start of every Olympic Games every athlete raises the Olympic flag and recites the Olympic oath: “In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games…in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams.”

On the face of it some of this collegiate spirit appears to have been lost on some of the Britain’s back room Olympic staff.

An ugly row over funding has spilled over into possible legal action at the court of arbitration for sport in Switzerland.

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The British Olympic Association – long reported to have been suffering funding crises – wants LOCOG – the 2012 organising committee – to give it the share of marketing rights sold to the game’s owners, the International Olympic Committee.

Last week LOCOG announced it was suspending BOA Chairman Loyd Moynihan and CEO Andy Hunt from its board meetings because of a conflict of interest.

LOCOG has already exceeded its target of $815m selling sponsorship.

But until the Games have finished – and the books are closed – LOCOG won’t know if the entire event is in the red, or the black.

The BOA says there’s a simple solution to this – exclude what it presumes will be a loss-making Paralympics from the spreadsheet.

The London Games, however, are the first Olympics to be fully integrated (apart from the scheduling) with their Paralympic counterpart.

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The initial bid envisioned a single festival of sport – indeed for the first time the organising committee is managing both events, using the same team. Unpicking where the Olympics end, and the Paralympics begin, will not be for the faint-hearted. Thus the matter has spiralled to the Swiss courts.

The dispute has pitted the BOA against LOCOG, the IOC (which has already ruled against them), and the International Paralympic Committee – which says the Paralympic Games won’t be the albatross the BOA predicts. Recall it has sold the TV rights to Channel 4, and for the first time has attracted a major Paralympic-only sponsor – Sainsbury’s.

Lord Moynihan has long been a supporter of Paralympic sport. But under his watch the organisation has reportedly let its salary bill soar to over £4m a year – for an organisation derided by some as merely the travel agent and tailor to Britain’s Olympic team.

And so to the Paralympic oath – word for word the same as their Oympic colleagues: “In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Paralympic Games…in the true spirit of sportsmanship for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams”.

Come June 2012 Britain’s athletes will no doubt be competing as one team. Their support staff still have some work to do.

Team GB: Olympic ambassadors 'proud to help stars of today and tomorrow' 

Athletics double Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes said: 
"Having the Olympics on home soil in London is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I hope the advice and support that I can offer from my Olympic experiences will help our athletes deal with the intense spotlight they will be under." 
Rowing five-time Olympic Champion Steve Redgrave said: 
"I hope I can use my vast experience of competing in the Olympic environment to help prepare members of the team to deal with the pressure, the scrutiny, the highs and the lows. But also to make the most of one of the most special moments in their lives; being an Olympian, in front of a home crowd." 
Swimming Olympic silver medallist Sharron Davies said: 
"The Olympics are without doubt the greatest show on earth and it's been a real life changing honour to be involved.Team GB is more than just the athletes; it is the coaches, physios, support staff and everyone in Britain who loves sport." 

The Team GB 2012 Ambassadors are: 
Adrian Moorhouse, Amir Khan, Amy Williams, Christopher Dean, Colin Jackson, Darren Campbell, David Hemery, Denise Lewis, Duncan Goodhew, James Cracknell, James DeGale, Jayne Torvill, Jonathan Edwards, Kelly Holmes, Kriss Akabusi, Lynn Davies, Mary Peters, Rhona Martin, Roger Black, Robin Cousins, Sally Gunnell, Sharron Davies, Shirley Robertson, Steve Backley, Steve Redgrave, Tessa Sanderson and Tim Henman.