LONDON (AP) ― The London Assembly pounced on Olympics chief Sebastian Coe on Wednesday, demanding answers to whether the public had a fair shot at tickets to the men’s 100-meter final and other popular events.
The heated exchanges also hit at many of the big British gripes about the event ― from traffic to sponsorships ― forcing the smooth-talking games chief into an uncharacteristically defensive stance. The unlikely forum for the sparring was the assembly, an elected watchdog group charged with being a check on the power of London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Tickets proved the flashpoint. Critics of the Olympics believe a disproportionate number of tickets have been sold in higher price brackets, excluding those who can’t afford to pay for the most popular events.
Assembly members have been demanding an accounting of how many have been sold so far and at what price. Organizers say it is too difficult, as well as commercially sensitive, to give up the data now.
Dee Doocey, the chair of the assembly committee that examined the ticketing process, did not bother to hide her frustration after Coe again refused a request for the data.
“You are the least transparent organization I have ever come across in the eight years I have been on at the London Assembly!” she said, her voice rising.
Coe kept trying to defend himself, but it didn’t end there. The meeting devolved into a roll call of every major problem faced by the London organizing committee, known as LOCOG.
First and foremost, there’s the issue over whether organizers should continue to associate themselves with Dow Chemical Co. because of its links to the company accused in the 1984 Bhopal gas leak.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
