The policy and implications of the British Government’s

The Olympic spirit is undoubtedly the most universal celebration of global unity ever achieved and the continuation of the same will always be an integral part of international cooperation and globalization. In this regard it is an honor for any city in this world to host the Olympic Games since doing so bestows several opportunities for such a city and its dwellers. The Olympic movement has had to involve in many ways depending on its leadership in a bid to make it more integral, independent and reach a wider audience than before (Constantine, 2000).

This changes has necessitate the need to adopt modern and innovative practices to the organization and running of Olympic affairs in order to cater for the monetary and logistical obligations of the management committees and to be able to organize superior games n broadcast them to a world audience. The IOC presidency of Samarech saw the international committee acquire rights to sell broadcasting rights to media companies in a bid to make the IOC financially independent. Furthermore, they developed an Olympic brand that could be sold to companies who would use it as an exclusive tool to market their products.

This brand becomes one of the biggest revenue earners for the Olympic committee since acquiring the rights to use the brand is an extremely expensive affair. The IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for the Olympic Games and therefore enjoys immense power since an interested city has to convince the committee that it is capable of hosting the games and upholding the standards that are vital for the success of the mammoth games. These have led to unethical conduct of some bidding committees who have tried to influence the award of this honor by offering bribes to committee members.

The idea of having the Olympic Games held in the U K is not new. Several bids have been put forward in past years by the city of Birmingham and without much success since the Olympic committee saw it as a lack of commitment on the U K authorities and interpreted their bids as not being serious enough. However, there has been a change of attitude amidst various stake holders who have been seeking an avenue of effecting a growth in elite sportsmanship by ensuring that elite English athletes are given forums to compete and excel and consequently earn U K respect in the sports arena.

Some concern has existed in the inability of the U K to be among the very top medal earners in the Olympic Games and efforts have picked up momentum to correct this deficit. It was therefore clear that drastic measures will have to be taken in order to draw the necessary attention which hopefully would translate to more attention on sports funding and a significant progress in the success of U K athletes (Gibson & Booth, 2009)

The momentum to host the Olympic 2012 games was not easy to build due to a lack of commitment on the part of the central government. There were questions as to the viability of London to host the games due to several factors that many saw as a stumbling block to the success of the games. However, there was general consensus among the various ranks of private groups in all sectors that the competitiveness of London as one of the major and important cities in world arena was under threat by emerging powers.

Others felt that the U K governments have continuously failed to give priorities to games in a nation plagued by obesity and idle youths. Therefore, several groups of people and the media played a significant role in forcing the government to concede to be the guarantor against the total cost of hosting the games. On July 6 2005 the president of the Olympic committee announced that the 2012 games would be hosted by London acting as the climax of a process that had taken over 7 years to become reality (B O A, 2009).

The bid committee popularly known as the BOA initiated in the early days a massive PR campaign that sought to gain the approval of the government and fuel public support for the bid in the hope that doing so would give them the necessary edge to beat the other competitors. The team used a strategy of persuading all involved of the diverse benefits that were to be reaped following the success of the beads among them public exposure, improved transportation, employment and housing improvements.

The success of the commonwealth games in Manchester acted as a booster for the team since it showed the commitment and ability of the country to host large games events. And thus the effort of this committee, the government and several other contributors led to the successful biding and the process of building the necessary facilities to host the games is underway. Hosting the Olympic Games poses serious challenges to any country due to the great infrastructural and logistical needs of the project.

The games are expected to cost nearly 9 billion pounds for the building of the Olympic village and the upgrading of other vital sectors including upgrading of existing venues and the road and rail system. There is a worry that the games might cost the tax payers more money since it is expected that the current budget might not be sufficient to cater for all the requirements. Another challenge is the transport system which is below standard and there will be a need to improve it and expand it if the games are to go on smoothly (Briginshaw, 2006).

Another challenge is the need to provide the venues and management committees with modern technology in order co ordinate the games effectively. Lastly is the problem of the Olympic legacy and how the various equipments and facilities will be put to use after the games. There are those who feel that most of the venues and assisting facilities in the Olympic village will be converted into schools and technical institutes for games development for the benefit of London youths.

Furthermore, this is estimated to create over three thousand permanent jobs for the local people. Most importantly it is hoped that the Olympic Games will increase the level of sports participation in the U K including for those who are disabled (Rose, 2009). Bibliography B O A 2009, London 2012 Olympic Bid – An Eight Year Journey, Viewed 8 May 2009, <http://www. olympics. org. uk/contentpage. aspx? no=268>. Briginshaw, D 2006, An Olympic Challenge, International Railway Journal, Viewed 8 May 2009, < http://74. 125. 113. 132/search?

q=cache:zVQ6EWubIj8J:library. kmi. re. kr/BibAttfile/0000050180200607. pdf+challenge+of+london+as+an+olympic+venue&cd=19&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ke&client=firefox>. Constantine, S 2000, History of the Olympic Games, Seaburn Publishing, New York. Gibson, O & Booth, R 2009, Halfway to the opening ceremony, London 2012’s progress report, Guardian, Viewed 8 May 2009, <http://www. guardian. co. uk/uk/2009/jan/15/london-2012-olympic-games-seb-coe-boris-johnson>. Rose, E 2009, Disability Sports, London 2012, Viewed 8 May 8 2009, < http://www. london2012. com/>.