The organisers of next year’s World Athletics Championships have declared London 2017 will be the “cleanest games ever”, insisting it will be a success despite the travails facing the sport and the event.
Unveiling the ticket pricing strategy and schedule for the event next August, the UK Athletics chief executive, Niels de Vos, denied that the championships would struggle to attract sponsors. In January, the Guardian revealed the event was facing a possible financial black hole amid a row with the embattled world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, and continuing negotiations with its marketing partner, Dentsu.
Six members of the London 2017 board have quit or resigned amid a dispute over governance and strategy but De Vos insisted that UKA, having won the battle for control, was on track to deliver without recourse to the taxpayer.
“I’m as confident as you can be, without ignoring the realities of life, that London 2017 will have exactly the same level of success [as the London 2012 Olympics],” said De Vos, who is also the championships’ director. “And the reason is, people are interested in athletics. People aren’t interested in governing bodies.”
The Rio 2016 Olympics is likely to be overshadowed by the continuing doping problems afflicting the sport, whether Russia, currently banned, are allowed to compete or not. De Vos, though, insisted the sport was through the worst of the crisis. “I would be very hopeful 2017 will be a very clean games but it’s impossible to say with certainty and that’s a shame,” he said. “I think we’re through the worst of it. I think without doubt 2017 will be the cleanest championships ever.”
Organisers must conclude negotiations with Dentsu before being able to go to the market and negotiate their own domestic sponsorship deals, amid fears in Whitehall over the government’s promise to underwrite the championships. UKA is also looking for its own domestic sponsors after Sainsbury’s last year cut short its deal.
Around 1.5m tickets will go on sale for the event and the World ParaAthletics Championships that follows at what was London’s 2012 Olympic Stadium, with the ballot opening on 1 August this year and closing on 22 August.
Prices for the world championships range from £9.58 for children to £155 for the most expensive sessions, such as the 100m final that is likely to be Usain Bolt’s swansong on the international stage.
One third of the tickets will be priced at £35 or less, with half at £50 or less in a bid to ensure the stadium is full for all sessions. Tickets for the ParaAthletics World Championships start at £10 for adults and £5 for children.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Indian technology group and car maker Mahindra is in pole position to win the naming rights to the former Olympic Stadium ahead of West Ham’s move. The mooted deal, worth £6m a year, would see West Ham benefit to the tune of £1m a year under the contract agreed with the London Legacy Development Corporation.
During the world championships, the stadium would have to be renamed under IAAF rules but cannot be referred to as the Olympic Stadium under the LLDC’s agreement with the International Olympic Committee.
