IOC Signs New Sponsorship Deal
The International Olympic Committee has penned down a new sponsorship deal that is set to further boot the greatest sporting spectacle the Olympics, a crowning moment for the world of sport every four years.
The new deal has been signed with Dow Chemical Co which is one of the biggest deals for a major sporting event for a significant period.
The president of the IOC Jacques Rogge made the announcement in a hotel in Manhattan New York.
As per the contract neither of the two parties is going to divulge the financial cost of the sponsorship but the duo confirmed that the sponsorship is for a decade at least expected to run till the 2020 Summer Olympics.
"The partnership we're having with Dow, like the partnership we're having with all the other major companies is based on a win-win situation," Rogge told a news conference.
"The IOC will benefit from financial resources and they are important because our mission is to propagate and create facilities for the athletes at grass root levels, especially in developing countries."
On the other hand the chief executive of the sponsors Andrew Liveris said that his company that they have a long association with the Olympic governing body, which is almost 30 years old.
He added that had supplied products for this year's Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, and now the new deal would allow them to more identify a clearer path of association with the greatest sporting spectacle.
The company is the first major sponsor to join the IOC's sponsorship programme in the last three years and 10th overall.
The previous sponsorships have helped the ICO accumulate a staggering $883 million U.S. dollars.
Although the IOC financial committee does not release the numbers the major companies pay approximately $100 million dollars in their sponsorship deals over a four-year period.
Meanwhile on the IOC panel the major sponsors for the 2010 London Olympics are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, General Electric, McDonald's, Omega, Panasonic, Samsung and Visa.
On the other had the venue for the 2020 games has not been finalized yet, but South American power house Brazil is set to host the games in 2016.
The host city for the games in 2020 would be decided in three years time.
The head of marketing Gerhard Heiberg recalled that the IOC has struck the deal with Dow during a breakfast meeting held at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but the prevailing economic meltdown and the uncertainty hovering over the American economy delayed the deal.
According to Heiberg the governing body was confident of adding at least two more major sponsors before the London Olympics to take the number to 12.
Rogge is also confident that the 2010 games would be a major success just like the 2008 games in China, "You have the remediation of a derelict part of London, of course, called East London and you have a lot of new infrastructure, both transport telecommunications coming in. There will be cheaper affordable housing being built there. There will be iconic venues being built for sports," said Rogge. "So I believe it's going to leave a great legacy".
Another development coming out of the IOC is the decision made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that U.S. relay team members who were stripped of their 2000 Olympic medals by the IOC because of Marion Jones's doping can retain them.
The ruling for the U.S. women's 4x100 and 4x400 meters teams was changed after the disgraced former sprinter Jones, a member of both relays admitted using banned substances during the Games.
Rogge told media that his body accepts the decision and wants to rid the games of the menace of doping "We respect the judgment, but we are going to study the consequences and to see how we can improve our action".
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