Olympic Games: London and Ioc on Same Team

Denis Oswald, chairman of the International Olympic Committee's coordination commission, said yesterday that he wants to be considered a partner of London 2012, not an inspector. "I was irritated at that description in the newspapers this morning," said the Swiss, who is also president of the International Rowing Federation. "To use an analogy from my own sport, we are sitting in the same boat and rowing in the same direction."

Oswald was the chairman of the coordination commission for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, where he often had to act as an enforcer because the preparations were so far behind schedule. But the speed with which London has got itself organised has reassured him that a similar scenario will not occur here.

"London has made a very, very good start," said Oswald. "Athens needed 11 months to get itself organised. London had five months under the terms of the host city contract but took only two.

"This shows the commitment of everyone involved, including the government, not to lose one day to make sure the Games are implemented the way they should be and are successful. We are in a partnership. It is a team effort."

Oswald and Gilbert Felli, the IOC's executive director, are in London to host a two-day orientation seminar attended by 150 delegates from across Britain that will set the framework for 2012.

"It marks an important milestone on the road to 2012," said Oswald. "It gives the IOC and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games a real opportunity to bring together many of the key players who will be involved over the next seven years and map out the way ahead.

"This event . . . provides a forum to transfer knowledge for us to develop relationships, through London 2012, with all those partners contributing to the Games."