Row over Stadium caused because Government did not think London would win 2012

Insideworldfootball.biz

The row about the post-Olympic use of the Stratford stadium is the price of unexpected victory. And, if it is not quite like the wages of sin, it is just as painful.

In many ways, the 2012 bid book pledge to retain an athletics track at the Olympic stadium was the sporting equivalent of the Liberal Democrats' pledge not to raise tuition fees.

They made it in good faith but then they did not expect to be in Government, some of them are clearly still uncomfortable with being in power. And, once inside the tent, they had to renege on the pledge as realities struck. Just as the Liberal Democrats didn't expect to be in Government, London did not expect to win in Singapore. If, at the end of the day, the promise on the track is broken, it must be seen as one of those hard realities that confront those in power.