First-Ever Olympic Sponsors' Summit; PyeongChang Pledges No Conflict of Interest

First-Ever Olympic Sponsors’ Summit in London

The UK hosted the first ever Olympic Sponsors’ Summit last week ahead of the 2012 Games in London.

The government organized the summit to emphasize the opportunities that businesses have from the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"The London Games are generating billions of pounds worth of contracts throughout the supply chain, securing new business for firms and powering their growth for the long term. This is an opportunity that no company can afford to miss out on," Mark Prisk, Minister of State for Business, said.

Representatives from London 2012 sponsors including Lloyds TSB, Deloitte and BT attended the event.

"I am delighted that these three sponsors of the Games are joining with government to support businesses as they prepare for 2012. There is a lot that business can learn from one another," Prisk said.

The sponsor representatives spoke on how businesses can maintain high standards of service to customers during the Games and how to protect themselves against attacks on IT networks.

Nearly 200 businesses also attended the event.

Samsung, VisitBritain Partner for London 2012

Samsung and VisitBritain have partnered to promote Britain as a tourism destination ahead of the London 2012 Games.

VisitBritain will provide information to be preloaded to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, a handheld tablet.

The information will include accommodation and entertainment recommendations with images and maps. It will be free through an application for the Galaxy Tab.

"This exciting partnership with Samsung is about creating an increase in tourism in Britain in the run-up to the Britain in the run-up to the London 2012 Games and after," Sandie Dawe, VisitBritain CEO, said in a press release.

"We hope that tourists who consult the Samsung-VisitBritain app will be inspired to explore the whole of the UK."

No Conflicts of Interest, PyeongChang Pledges

PyeongChang 2018 leadership says the bid will heed an IOC warning to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

The AP reports that bid chairman Yang-ho Cho pledged to "strictly respect the IOC Code of Ethics, the Rules of Conduct and all proper implementing provisions" in a letter emailed Thursday to IOC headquarters in Lausanne.

Cho’s promise comes hot on the heels of a memo sent Wednesday to the bid committee regarding concerns that Korean Air’s sponsorship of the International Skating Union may have caused a conflict of interest.

Cho is both co-chair of the bid and chairman of Korean Air, itself a partner of the bid.

According to an IOC statement, the Ethics Commission "reminded Pyeongchang 2018 and its related organizations to fully respect the Rules of Conduct related to Candidate Cities".

Also Wednesday, the Ethics Commission ruled that Korean Air’s two-year, $1 million sponsorship of the ISU must wait until after the July 6 vote for a host city at the IOC Session in Durban, South Africa.

"We believe that this matter is now closed and we can all move forward into the next phase of the 2018 bid campaign," Cho said in Thursday’s letter to the IOC.

"PyeongChang 2018 has always been and continues to remain committed to complying with all IOC rules and regulations."

Briefs…

…The VIESSMANN FIBT World Cup Bobsleigh & Skeleton men’s and women’s events presented by Visa will be held at the Whistler Sliding Center, Nov. 25 through 27. Whistler will be the first stop of the World Cup tour.

… A Swedish state energy company has partnered with the International Ski Federation. Vattenfall will sponsor FIS events and series in Europe.

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With reporting from Isia Reaves and Matthew Grayson

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