Westminster City Council last month rejected the £10 million ($15.5 million/€11.6 million) plans, which would have involved an ice rink being erected in the heart of the capital accommodating up to 8,000 people a day, following objections from several groups, including the Metropolitan Police. 

Transport for London also expressed fears about the controversial scheme, claiming it could major traffic problems. 

But Chernyshenko claimed here during the European Olympic Committees 40th General Assembly that he still expects Sochi to have a presence at Marble Arch during the Games. 

"Sochi 2014 will be proudly presented in London," he said.

"We still hope to find a solution to be present in Marble Arch.

"We are looking at other opportunities but our priority remains Marble Arch."

Solutions could include dramatically scaling back the numbers of people who would be able to use the ice rink or scrapping that idea and instead having an interactive exhibition. 

"We want to stress we are coming to London and we will build [Sochi Centre] for our target audience of visitors to the London Games and we will meet all the requirements of local authorities and will do our best not to create any major problems for city authorities," said Chernyshenko.

"We continue to evaluate all the questions coming from Westminster and believe we have enough time to answer those questions."

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October 2011: Sochi Marble Arch plans for London 2012 rejected
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