$100 Million Policy Triggered If 2012 London Olympics Cancelled
International sports federations will be insured for up to $100 million in the event the 2012 London Olympics are canceled because of war or terrorism.
Andrew Ryan, director of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, said the 26 sports on the Olympic program will pay in into the policy.
The ASOIF insurance is part of the overall cancellation policy taken out by the International Olympic Committee for London, a practice followed for all summer and winter games. The overall figure has not been announced.
Speaking at the ASOIF general assembly, Ryan said 11 sports federations still need to notify the association how much they want to contribute.
“We’re allowed to insure $100 million,” Ryan said in an interview. “We offer that to the federations, divided between them. It was dependent on whether the insurer had war and terrorism coverage.
“By the end of this month they have to confirm that. I am asking the remaining 11 federations who have not indicated how much they wish to insure, will they please respond, because we now know that war and terrorism will be included.”
The IOC’s insurance is divided among the IOC, the federations, national Olympic committees and other bodies.
“There isn’t enough insurance capacity in the world to insure the games so we have to get what we can,” Ryan said.
Ryan said each federation will pay a premium, which will be deducted after the Olympics from their share of revenues from the games.
On a separate issue, the federations were briefed by the IOC on measures to combat betting and match-fixing at the London Games.
IOC sports director Christophe Dubi said a telephone hot line and dedicated email address will be set up for athletes and others to report any suspicious activities during the games. That’s in addition to the IOC’s monitoring of betting patterns, which found no illegal betting at previous Olympics.
The IOC bars athletes, coaches, officials and their entourages from betting on the games, trying to influence results or disclosing inside information.
The IOC hosted a summit last month of sports leaders, politicians and licensed betting operations on the issue.