By Tom Degun in London

Xavier_Gonzalez_behind_lecternMarch 31 - International Paralympic Committee (IPC) chief executive Xavier Gonzalez has tonight claimed that next year's Paralympics in London will not make a financial loss, despite the British Olympic Association's (BOA) fears that they will.


The BOA are currently part of an escalating row with London 2012 which has seen them take legal action against them in a row over whether their share of profit from the Games should include the cost of the Paralympics.

The BOA are claiming that their cut of any surplus after the 2012 Games should not include the costs of running the Paralympics and have ignored an International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruling against them to take their claim to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

BOA chairman Colin Moynihan and chief executive Andy Hunt were last week excluded from London 2012 Board meetings as they the controversial action against the Olympic organisers but Gonzalez has claimed that the duo are incorrect in assuming that the Paralympics will operate at a loss.

"The revenues that we will generate at the Paralympics will cover the cost of hosting the Paralympics," Gonzalez told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"That means that the assumptions and the numbers that have been used are wrong.

"We are independent of the discussions that there have been between the BOA, the IOC and LOCOG but we wanted to clarify that that at the Paralympics, on the basis of the information we have, we will not make a loss.

"I respect the right of the BOA to defend their interest if they feel that they are not correctly taking care of their estate but what we are trying to say in this case is that there was a vision for London 2012 and they were the ones presenting the bid [in Singapore in 2005] that was set out as one festival of sport in London that included the Olympics and the Paralympics.

"We are not making a loss and we not draining the Olympic resources.

Sainsburys_with_Nigel_Murray_at_Leamington_store
"All of our own costs are covered by the revenue that LOCOG has been able to generate through sponsors like Sainsbury's [the first ever Paralympic-only sponsor] and with television agreements like the one which was made with Channel 4."

Gonzalez, currently in London inspecting the facilities for the 2012 Games, added that he is delighted with the progress being made and that he wants the dispute over as quickly as possible so people can go back to focussing on what he feels will be a spectacular event.

"The job that has been done until now by LOCOG and the ODA (Olympic Delivery Authority) and the rest of the entities in terms of the Paralympics is very impressive," he said.

"We have had also a series of meetings [with London 2012] and there is a lot of exciting things that are going to come up as we lead up to one year to go to the London 2012 Paralympics.

"We need to go back and focus on the fantastic things that are going to happen and London is a great opportunity as we are coming back to where the Paralympic Movement was born."

Gonzalez revealed that there is a possibility that the Paralympics could one day become a separate entity from the Olympics but currently the IOC and IPC are both benefiting from the arrangement of staging the two back-to-back.

"Well we can look into the future and anything is possible but today, the arrangement we have with IOC that happened in 2008 is very recent," Gonzalez said.

"This arrangement is working for the benefit of both and I think London will prove that having the two events together and working together in the way that we are at the moment is going to bring even more benefits."

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