- 11 Nov 08, 06:46 PM
Olympic experts regularly tell me that London's traffic problems are the biggest challenge to organisers of the .
And it's because of them that London 2012's plans to move badminton to Wembley's indoor Arena in order to save money are likely to face some opposition from the international governing body of the sport.
I've been speaking to the where officials are worried about the journey from the to the arena which is next to the main .
and London 2012 will need to show the governing body that it will be possible to cut that time down through Olympic lanes and special traffic measures organised at key times of the day.
I understand, however, that Olympics officials are confident that they will get the approval of the sport for the move. London 2012 are hoping to finalise the details of their principle cost-cutting measure before Christmas.
Badminton and rhythmic gymnastics were due to take place in a Β£40million temporary arena close to (formerly the Dome). That money will now be saved from the . London 2012 will have to pay a rental fee, though, from Wembley Arena, which has yet to be finalised.
The Badminton World Federation has not received an official request from London 2012 about the move but preliminary discussions have already taken place. Given that badminton is set to stage , there are few technical objections to the sport being played there.
But the players will stay in during the world championships whereas most Olympic competitors stay in the village for security reasons during the Games.
2012 officials have been looking hard at ways of saving money because of the . Their problem, however, is that they promised the world Games where athletes would compete - rather than commute.
Officials are already planning to build another, bigger temporary venue at the Olympic Park for basketball preliminary matches. There is no way of avoiding this because there aren't any venues in London available which can host crowds of 12,000.
The badminton venue is smaller, however, and it therefore works at Wembley. It would have been hard for 2012 to justify building another temporary venue at north Greenwich in these difficult financial days.
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