LONDON, March 11 (UPI) – The British government is set to reveal that the price tag of the 2012 London Olympics has now surpassed $17.4 billion.
The Sunday Telegraph reported this week that Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown will disclose, as predicted 18 months ago, the budget for the Olympics has skyrocketed far beyond the original projected cost of nearly $4.65 billion.
Hugh Robertson, the shadow Olympics minister, said both Brown and Minister for the Olympics Tessa Jowell concealed the escalating cost of the Games.
“It is now absolutely clear that Gordon Brown and Tessa Jowell knew that the Olympic budget could overrun,” he said. “But at exactly the same time, the government was giving Parliament cast-iron assurances that the original budget was robust and deliverable.”
The newspaper said that with meeting transcriptions offering apparent evidence to back up such claims, other British politicians have begun to ask for more details regarding the London Olympics and its financial status.
wow.
if 10,000 athletes attend, thats a cost of $1.7Mill each competitor.
I bet that the athletes dont feel that way when they are there!
So, for each athlete there, they need to raise that amount of $$ in revenue for the games to break even. Wow, thats some pressure if you make the team.
Well part of the master plan was to encourage spectators / kids / the general population to become more physically active - so it’s money well spent?? Reduce obesity, cancer rates, osteoporsis, diabetes…
Sod that activity pull up my arm chair with a tonne of pop corn and drink 4 gallons of cola:)