Incentives Are Removed From London 2012 Bid

Amid ethics-related questioning by the International Olympic Committee, London officials on Saturday withdrew an incentive-laden package announced last week in a bid to sweeten the British capital’s bid for the 2012 Summer Games.

At an Olympic convention in Berlin last Monday, London officials unveiled a proposal that would entitle athletes to free phone cards at the Games, free train travel afterward and other benefits, as well as provide a $50,000 credit to any national Olympic committee that wanted to train in Britain before the Games. The plan prompted the IOC ethics watchdog, French investigator Paquerette Girard Zappelli, to seek “clarification.”

Shortly thereafter, IOC President Jacques Rogge said cities could be forced to withdraw any offers not included in plans submitted months ago to the IOC. London 2012 officials on Saturday said they had decided to withdraw the incentives plan “in the best interests of the Olympic movement.”

London, New York, Paris, Madrid and Moscow are vying for the 2012 Games. The IOC will pick the 2012 site on July 6 in Singapore.

It remained unclear late Saturday what impact, if any, London’s move would have on Zappelli’s inquiries into “any perceived non-compliance with the IOC’s rules of conduct.” London officials have repeatedly said they did nothing wrong.

With the 2012 race entering its final weeks, the move Saturday promised to offer a point of distinction for all the candidate cities, perhaps none more so than New York. The IOC on Friday had cleared New York’s 2012 bid of any ethical missteps.

Last Sunday, New York bid officials said their plan included marketing assistance for the 28 Summer Games sports in the seven-year run-up to the Games via an agency headed by NBA Commissioner David Stern.

That plan, just as New York bidders had said repeatedly it was, is outlined in New York’s candidacy file, and the IOC confirmed Saturday it was an “integral part” of New York’s bid file.