Britsh Olympic Association changes the Team Member’s Agreement - London Olympics
The chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA), Lord Moynihan, recently made the announcement of an error in the Team Member’s Agreement that all athletes taking part in the London 2012 Olympic Games would have to sign.
The error refers to a VIP sponsors dinner that athletes would have had to attend during the Olympic Games. However, the clause has now been removed from the agreement and it is no longer necessary for the athletes to be present at the dinner.
There had been complaints made by athletes regarding the compulsion to attend the dinner on the grounds that it would distract them and reduce their focus from the sport events they would be participating in.
Moynihan made the following comments regarding the issue while talking to BBC Sport: "When the VIP dinner issue came up it struck me that could impact on (athletes') performance. That's the last thing in the world the British Olympic Association should be
focused on. It struck me that was an error - it was an error to even think that athletes should appear during the Games when they should be utterly 100 per cent focused on performance. It's part of a negotiation. For the first time in my lifetime it is a document
that is negotiated and discussed with the athletes themselves and lots of things come in and lots of things go out."
Among other things, the agreement also includes a clause regarding athletes who will get their hands on the gold medals. These exceptional individuals will be given a sum of £10,000 as payment for letting the Royal Mail use their image on stamps.
The Olympics is heading for London for the third time in the history of the city. The first time that London played host to the Games was in 1908 while the second time the big show came to town in 1948. After having hosted the Olympic Games next year, London
will become the first city in the world to have the honour of featuring the Olympics thrice.
Interestingly, the agreement also includes a clause that stops athletes from disclosing any part of the agreement to anyone else.
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