According to The Times, Sebastian Coe, head of London’s bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, believes he has a secret trump he will use just before the 2012 host city is voted on that will secure the 2012 Games for London.
Although he did not reveal what it was this early in the bid, Coe said he will produce what he called Sunday “the sizzle factor” only as the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meet in Singapore to vote on the 2012 Games host city.
He said that the most important factor in the build-up to the vote was the “message sequence” – the timing of announcements about the details, because “the best get nicked and the worst get derided”.
Coe said, “we now have to underpin all those messages to the broader electorate of the IOC, and not just them but their national Olympic committees, their sponsors and partners, anyone who can impact on that judgment”, reports the Guardian.
Coe and Keith Mills, London’s chief executive, will be travelling around the world the next four months with the message that Britain can stage a successful Olympic Games. There are already visits planned for Australia, Germany and Ghana.
Coe said, “we have a wide network of support in governing bodies of sport. People who have educational interest and anyone who can spread the message around the world. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have been extremely helpful in making sure all those messages are being underpinned”.
The Guardian reports that handpicked informants will also be trying to sell London’s bid “in the corridors of power”.
Coe said, “it will be down to personal contact and we have a very good network of people out there, many of them ‘under the radar’ – the hidden wiring is important here”.
