Football Rivalry Set Aside for London 2012; Sochi Construction

Games Volunteerism Unites Football Rivals

Two heavyweights of English football are setting aside their bitter rivalry for the good of London 2012.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp and Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger are the latest Londoners to heed Mayor Boris Johnson’s call and volunteer as a Games-time guide for visitors to the host city.

"If you think you’ve got what it takes, listen to the giants of these two great London teams and apply quickly before it’s too late," Johnson said Tuesday in a statement.

A total of 8,000 "London Ambassadors" will spread themselves across the capital, telling tourists where to go, what to do and how to get there.

Registration is available here but closes Friday.

Medvedev: Cost Not an Issue for Games Construction

Sochi will benefit from state of the art infrastructure following the 2014 Olympics, according to Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

At a meeting with Olympic officials in the Rosa Khutor resort on Tuesday, the president said cost won’t be an issue ensuring the town has quality facilities in "the post-Olympic future."

"The Olympics is, of course, a major sports event, but it is also important for us that there should be many new facilities for life and for pleasure here in Sochi," he said according to the state-run Ria-Novosti news agency.

"It is important that this high level that will be reached at any cost during the Olympics should remain for the residents of the Krasnodar region and for tourists. Our goal is to make Sochi a resort of international renown."

More than $30 billion will got to infrastructure upgrades before the Olympics.

Olympics to Promote Russian, Brazilian Relationship

Dmitry Medvedev wants the Olympics to increase cooperation with Russia and Brazil.

In a congratulatory message to new Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, he said "A new promising sphere of cooperation should become the sharing of experience in holding such major international sport competitions as the Olympics and the Paralympics in Sochi in 2014 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, as well as the FIFA World Cups in Brazil in 2014 and in Russia in 2018."

The ITAR-TASS news agency quoted him saying: "strategic partnership with Brazil is among priorities of Russian foreign policy that is based on sincere sympathy, mutual respect and trust between the peoples of the countries.

"Our countries cooperate closely on a broad range of international issues."

He added "I am inclined to do a constructive fruitful work with you. I hope that we will pool efforts to gain the high dynamics of diversified and mutually beneficial Russian-Brazilian relations for the benefit of the peoples of our countries."

Verizon, USA Luge End 30-Year Partnership

As 2010 gives way to 2011, USA Luge is reminiscing not on the past year but on the past three decades.

That marks the extent of its relationship with Verizon, whose 30-year sponsorship of the National Governing Body ended Saturday when the clock struck midnight.

"That’s why the New Year is tinged with some sadness as we say goodbye to a great partner in Verizon," USA Luge CEO Ron Rossi said Monday in a statement.

"At the same time, it’s fitting to offer this public expression of thanks for helping our athletes so significantly throughout so many years in their respective quests to achieve their dreams and ultimate goal of standing on the medalpodium."

The partnership spanned the telecom giant’s days as New York Telephone Company, NYNEX and Bell Atlantic before culminating in a final eight-year deal with Verizon worth roughly $1 million annually.

During that time, USA sliders won four Olympic medals, three World Cup overall titles and 10 World Championship medals.

The sponsorship even won fifth place when the NGB asked its fans to vote for the top 25 moments in its history as part of a 25th anniversary celebration in 2004.The other 24 were competition achievements.

"While sponsorships of all types come and go, only a very few will ever span a period of this length," said Rossi.

Longtime supplier Norton/Saint-Gobain committed to the role of primary team sponsor through at least Sochi 2014.

Somali Olympic Committee Praised

The Somali Olympic Committee has left a mark on the country, all without a strong central government.

At the SOC’s general assembly in Mogadishu which ended Monday, the country’s sports minister Abdi Nur Mahmoud praised the organization’s work.

"I know that the NOC and its federations are very important for the Somali people, because you have guided uncountable number of youths from bad habits they were involved in like taking part in civil war or drug abuse and we want you to redouble such good work" he said. "As a ministry we are ready to have a good cooperation with you and we hope the same from your side."

SOC president Aden Hajji Yeberow said the main projects for the SOC since he assumed the helm in 2009 have been to rebuild the country’s stadia, and the construction of the OlympAfrica center, which will provide state of the art sporting facilities.

Media Watch

German weekly Der Spiegel takes an in-depth look at the ongoing dispute between bid supporters and opponents in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Munich 2018’s alpine sports hub.

Writing for The Huffington Post blog, gold medalist Nikki Stone says Johann Koss, founder of the non-profit Right to Play, is an Olympian "everyone should resolve to be like".

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Written by Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson.