Tim Almond

From The Times:-

Game Plan examined five types of benefits widely used to make the case for investing in large-scale events: urban regeneration; sporting legacy; tourism; celebration and culture; and wider economic uplift.

It concluded: “The quantifiable evidence to support each of the perceived benefits for mega-events is weak. . . be clear that they appear to be more about celebration than economic return.”

So, the government’s own report said that mega sporting events were a bit of a waste of money, something that’s pretty much already known. So, between now and 2012, what’s Jowell’s justification going to be? Can’t we just tell the IOC to go to find someone else to do it? It’s not like they’re a long term military or economic partner. OK, maybe they’d kick us out, but we wouldn’t really miss dressage or synchronised swimming would we? It’s not like they’re real sports.

Hugh Robertson, the Shadow Sports Minister, said: “By ruthlessly suppressing the report without addressing its conclusions, the Government has knowingly wasted huge amounts of public money that could have been used to improve sport in this country.”

It’s a pity the Conservatives ignored all that stuff that academics were writing about Athens and Sydney and how they failed to achieve their objectives. Too busy trying to not look like the “nasty party” to do any proper economic analysis.

Tags: Politics, Olympics //