Olympics London 2012: Chief rules out clash with soccer season

London Games chiefs said on Thursday the start of the 2012-13 English soccer season will be delayed so as not to clash with the 2012 Olympics.
The Olympics start on July 27 and end on Aug. 12, while the Premier League season traditionally opens with the Community Shield curtain raiser in early August.
Organising committee chief executive Paul Deighton said he had held talks with the Football Association (FA) and Premier League to discuss the matter.
"We have been in discussions with all the sports bodies responsible for sports schedules in 2012 and we are on track to meet our obligation," Deighton told reporters at the end of a four day visit by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to inspect London's progress.
Pushed on whether the Premier League and FA would agree to a slight delay, Deighton replied: "Yes".
Olympic host cities agree to abide by IOC requirements that no other major sporting events take place at the same time.
The FA said on Thursday they were in talks with the London organising committee (LOCOG) about fixing a date for the Community Shield, traditionally played at Wembley Stadium between the league champions and FA Cup winners.
Wembley will host the gold medal match in the Olympic soccer tournament on the final weekend of the Games.

ASHES SERIES
The Olympics could also have implications for the cricket schedule. England are hosting Australia in the Ashes in 2012 with the first match of the series usually reserved for Lord's which will be the venue for Olympic archery.
Denis Oswald, the head of the IOC's co-ordination commission, said he was happy with London's progress.
"Two years before the Games you are at the turning point from conception and construction to the operational phase," Oswald told reporters.
"We are entering a crucial period in the coming months but we are convinced that London will have a very successful Games."
IOC president Jacques Rogge toured the 2012 Olympic Stadium earlier this week and met Britain's new Prime Minister David Cameron.
Oswald played down the 27 million pounds ($41.01 million) of cuts to the Games budget currently announced by Britain's new coalition government, saying: "The new government is fully backing and supporting the Games."
Asked to compare London's progress with past host cities, Oswald described it as "top of the league" after a dig at Athens.

London 2012 Olympics receives £39m Airwave boost

The Home Office is spending £39m to boost the capacity of the Airwave radio system to enable emergency services to cope with the 2012 Olympics and a major incident while maintaining "business as usual" services in and around London.
The contract between Airwave Solutions and the National Policing Improvement Agency covers core communications for the police, fire and ambulance services, including additional policing requirements during Olympics events, coverage within Olympics venues, and capability to support public order operations involving several thousand police officers in a confined geographical area.
Security minister Lord West said: "Investing now means the Airwave network system can be thoroughly tested before 2012 and will ensure it remains resilient during Games time."
The expansion to the radio communication system will extend to all 2012 host venue police forces, fire and ambulance services as well as other counties which are hosting 2012 events or athletes' training camps.
"An effective radio system is vital to the delivery of a safe and secure 2012 Games, said Chris Alison, Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner responsible for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
"The investment in the Airwave system is a significant step in achieving this aim and will benefit all emergency services."
Airwave chief executive Richard Bobbett said the contract required a number of innovations from a technical and network management point of view.
The 2012 Games is expected to be the most technology enabled Olympics ever, and thousands of wireless applications will be needed to support the events, security, athletes, TV cameras, administration and management during the seven weeks covering the build-up, the Games themselves and the subsequent Paralympics.
Ofcom last month published a Spectrum Plan detailing how radio frequencies will be made available to organisers and users from more than 150 countries to ensure services such as Airwave will not be affected by the volume of wireless services required.

2012 London Olympics art installation for Mittal donates

Lakshmi Mittal NRI steel tycoon has donated 15 million pounds towards creation of a landmark art installation in East End in honour of the 2012 Olympics.
Mittal decided to make the donation at the case of London Mayor Boris Johnson, 'Evening Standard', a tabloid has said.
The scale of the steel installation is colossal and is expected to be visible from up to 16 km away.
This year was Mittal named the eighth richest person in the world and one of the richest in UK, with a personal fortune of 12 billion pounds.