Its very public offer of three ‘Olympic Charters’ in Berlin last week came as a big surprise to IOC president Jacques Rogge, who spoke out about his fears over a bidding war being started between the candidate cities.
Bid leader Sebastian Coe has insisted it was Rogge’s comments that led to the offers being withdrawn, prior to an investigation by the IOC’s ethics commission.
Insiders say the offers, which set out a specific pledge of $50,000 to each national Olympic committee, evoked memories of past corruption scandals.
Other offers included free, full fare, return economy-class tickets to all athletes, free rail tickets in the UK for two weeks before and after the Games, free phone calls and discounts for shops, restaurants and theatres.
New York’s offer to help market all 28 Olympic sports, including the offer of free office space in New York, was cleared by the ethics commission as, unlike London, this was clearly set out in the formal bid documents already submitted to the IOC.
Coe is nevertheless reported to be confident that no terminal harm has been done to London’s prospects of hosting the Games.
