London's final venue dispute resolved after stand-off

Published>Wed, May 26 10 11:47 PM

Badminton and rhythmic gymnastics have agreed to use Wembley Arena during the 2012 London Olympics, the last venue to be resolved after a long-running stand-off with organisers over travel and accommodation plans.

Organisers, who had proposed the two sports be relocated to the existing arena to keep costs down during the longest and deepest economic downturn in decades, welcomed the agreement, describing it as "sensible".

"This is an important milestone in London 2012's planning for the Games," Denis Oswald, chairman of the IOC's coordination commission, said.

"With the venue for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics confirmed, LOCOG will be able to advance full steam ahead with its planning."

The two sports' bodies had resisted a proposed switch from a new temporary venue at Greenwich near the Olympic Park in east London. They had argued Wembley, situated in north west London, would add to travel time and damage the athletes' performance.

Boxing had already refused such a move on similar lines.

The IOC, which had pressed London Olympic organisers to resolve the issue by March 2009, had sanctioned the switch because of the "exceptional circumstances" of the recesssion.

But it has taken until now for the Badminton World Federation and the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique to agree to the move after reassurance that training facilities and accommodation would be found near the arena, making travel time less critical.

The world badminton championships will be held at Wembley Arena in August 2011.

The Wembley deal is expected to save London Olympic organisers about 30 million pounds ($43.18 million), a cost-cutting measure that will be welcomed by organisers.

The overall budget has already spiralled from an initial estimate of 2.4 billion pounds to 9.3 billion pounds ($13.39 billion).

They were told this week they would have to find another 27 million pounds ($38.86 million) of savings as part of attempts by the new Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government to tackle the country's record budget deficit.

"I welcome the BWF's and FIG's decisions. It is sensible during these difficult economic times to make use of an existing and well established facility," Hugh Robertson, minister for sport and Olympics, said.

BWF President Kang Young Joong said Wembley Arena had a long history of hosting badminton events and "we look forward to seeing great badminton being played there again".

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