Blair: Olympic work well ahead

Published on Sunday 12 July 2009 21:50

FORMER prime minister Tony Blair yesterday insisted London's preparations for the Olympics in 2012 were ahead of schedule.

"They're ahead of schedule on most of the building, which is incredible at this stage, and the preparations are going extremely well.

If you take where most bids have got to at this stage they have done a remarkable job. The delivery of the infrastructure and the stadiums has been done superbly," he said.

Mr Blair said he believed London would still have bid for the Games even in the current climate of recession.

"It would be crazy not to. The commercial and business spin-off is enormous. Look at the last two Olympics, Athens and Beijing. Both cities have been transformed and both countries benefited enormously. For me if you can get the Olympics as a country these days it is a complete no-brainer. Do it.

"The legacy will be in the facilities created but it will be phenomenal in generating interest in sport among young people. I am a passionate believer that sport is a great social policy as well as great fun."

Olympics minister Tessa Jowell, meanwhile, said there were no plans to use the 80,000-capacity Olympic stadium for football after the Games.

London mayor Boris Johnson has said potentially it could be used in the 2018 World Cup if England wins the bid.

But Ms Jowell maintained the stadium would be downsized to a 25,000 capacity arena after the Games and used for athletics.

She said: "We are not retrofitting Premier League football into the Olympic stadium. Nor are there plans for it to host the World Cup. If we win the World Cup, then we have Wembley."