http://sport.guardian.co.uk/london2012/story/0,14213,1473618,00.html
Saturday April 30, 2005 The Guardian Officials for London's 2012 Olympic bid are confident the controversy surrounding their embarrassing u-turn on the £15m incentives package has not affected support. The bid chairman Sebastian Coe and chief executive Keith Mills have spent much of the past week speaking to key officials around the world and do not believe it has caused lasting damage. The package included free air and train fares for thousands of athletes and team officials, £30,000 of credits to help them offset the cost of pre-games training camps in Britain, and other perks. However, some senior IOC officials believe more damage has been done by the hysterical press coverage in Britain that has accompanied the withdrawal. It reinforced their fear that if London is awarded the games the IOC can expect to come under closer scrutiny than ever before. Watching London's problems has at least caused amusement among officials of the favourites Paris. They had been increasingly irritated by the high-profile media and marketing campaign that London had launched and were hoping for a problem. Paris organisers claim they have been spreading their message more discreetly. This includes the French government offering to waive visa charges to members of the Olympic family and their spouses who enter the country during 2005. Many within the IOC think that offer is pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable but the French Olympic Committee announced the plan during the visit of the evaluation commission to Paris in February and cleverly secured the endorsement of its chairwoman Nawal El Moutawakel. ENDS
