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London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has criticised the government’s plans for a possible north of England bid for the Olympics and Paralympics, saying that excluding the capital city would be “a missed opportunity”. <\/b><\/p>\n
Ministers have commissioned UK Sport to conduct an “initial strategic assessment” into whether the region could host the Games in the 2040s.<\/p>\n
The funding agency would examine the potential cost of staging the event for the first time since London 2012, as well as socio-economic benefit and any bid’s chance of success.<\/p>\n
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the government was “starting the firing gun” on the project.<\/p>\n
But in response, a spokesperson for Sir Sadiq said: “London is the sporting capital of the world and the Mayor has openly expressed his ambition for the capital to be part of a future Olympic and Paralympic Games. <\/p>\n
“Sadiq believes that a potential country-wide bid, using all the assets we have in the UK, including the publicly-owned London Stadium would deliver the very best possible Olympics. <\/p>\n
“Using London’s existing world-class infrastructure would help deliver the greenest and most sustainable Games, as well as unlocking huge economic growth both here in London and around the country. <\/p>\n
“Not including the capital in an Olympics bid would be a missed opportunity, and mean our country fails to unleash the full benefits of a UK-wide games.”<\/p>\n
Earlier, Nandy said, “For too long we have been told the Olympics is simply too big and too important to be hosted in the north.<\/p>\n
“Not any more. It’s time the Olympics came north and we showed what we can offer to the world.<\/p>\n
“We know that we can pull off the most incredible, not just bid, but Olympics. So we’re kick-starting that with a phase-one study about the investment, the resources, the infrastructure, the transport that we’re going to need.”<\/p>\n
The findings of UK Sport’s study will determine whether to proceed with a more detailed “technical feasibility study”, with a final decision on any bid resting with the British Olympic Association (BOA).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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