Olympics-London to finalise all 2012 Games venues by March - IOC
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Dec 10 (Reuters) - London 2012 Olympic Games organisers will finalise the venues for all sports by March next year, the International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday.
The venue for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics as well as the shooting venue have yet to be pinned down as London tries to keep construction costs low amid the financial crisis.
"Can we maybe use an existing venue in London to save the construction of this temporary venue? That is a discussion we have with organisers," IOC Olympic Games Director Gilbert Felli told reporters.
Fencing and volleyball have already been moved to existing permanent sites as the government is under pressure to keep costs down after the Olympic budget spiralled from an initial estimate of 2.4 billion pounds ($3.55 billion) to 9.3 billion ($13.75 billion).
"There remains one issue on the venue of shooting," Felli said. "Now there are some discussions to see if there is another land... that could be used."
"We have asked that at least in March all of that will be closed (finalised) so that we know where all the venues are," Felli said.
He said the IOC was not concerned with the cost-related issues linked to the Olympic village as the government is scrambling to raise private funds for the project and saying some contingency funds were necessary for the project.
"We received information that some part of the contingency fund was necessary," Felli said. "That is why you have a contingency fund."
The IOC also decided to use the Hilton Hyde Park hotel as its official hotel during the Games and the nearby Intercontinental as the official National Olympic Committee's hotel, Felli said.
(Editing by Padraic Halpin)
