Lord Moynihan HARDtalk

appointed to replace Kofi Annan. That is all for now for me. Now it

is time for HARDtalk. The London 2012 Olympics has been

applauded at home and abroad as a huge success in terms of

organisation and medals for the host nation. My guest today is

chairman of the British Olympic Association and director of their

London organising committee of the Olympic Games. Legacy was at the

heart of London's bid to host the Games. What is being done to show

that Britain has more than medals Lord Moynihan, welcome to HARDtalk.

Thank you. Britain's coalition government promised that Britain's

Olympics would put the Great back into Great Britain. They had been

destroyed as a golden games. Where are they? As described. All of the

organisers played their part. The organisers put on a great Games for

the athletes. Team GB performed and excelled my expectations. Sorry,

exceeded my expectations. It was a truly great Games. You have

announce your resignation. You will stand down after an election in

November. Why step down when feeling is so good? I came into

travel the path to London 2012. That meant focusing on Beijing and,

from Beijing, up to London 2012. I want to give my successor a chance

to work towards the Winter Olympic Games. Then, on to rare. It is in

the best interests of the organisation. -- onto Rio. They

need to get to know the organising committee. When you step down,

everyone will look at the 2012 games. They have been successful

but there have been some glitches along the way. Some quite

embarrassing ones. G4S, the private security firm that was supposed to

take care of security on the ground announced they could not come up

with the 10,005 funders security personnel they were supposed to. --

10,500. David Winnick said it was a humiliating shambles. It was. There

was no problem with regard to security around the venues. LOCOG

had security in place. It was clear we had to increase numbers. We

hoped G4S would meet the challenge of the second contract. It was not

possible, at the end of the day. Then, the army, thanks to Philip

Hammond, the Secretary for Defence, stepped in. The situation was

rectified but it was embarrassing. You had Mitt Romney talking about

disconcerting signs, about preparations for the Games. Not the

type of head lice you want. If you are Mitt Romney, it is best to make

an error when you are abroad. He was wrong about his expectations.

It was an outstanding Games. The armed forces came and they played

their part. It provided an opportunity for the British public

to say thank you to them in a way they cannot usually do. They cannot

say enough how much of the security concern there was. -- we cannot.

One day after we won the bid, there was a terrorist attack. You have

over 20,000 journalists turning up just before the Games. They are

focusing on every potential problem they can find. When you look at the

difficulties from Beijing, the focus of human rights, when you go

to Athens, or the press focus about whether the stadium would be ready,

we faced one issue, one important issue, which was rectified. That

issue, in my view, in the totality of the preparation, made the rest

of the problems look small by comparison.

There was a problem with seating and ticketing. London 2012 promised

to be different from previous games which have had issues. There were

meant to be no empty seats but there was. -- there was meant to be

no increases but there were. There were two elements to ticketing. The

ticketing challenge in my view should now be taken over and led by

the IOC. Every time we have an Olympic Games, but you organising

committee starts from scratch with the good thing. -- and new. You

have 26 World Championships going on at the same time. You have

uncertainty about which athletes will allow their family to come and

watch them. It is hugely complex. My view, which is clearly stated,

is that this is the subject into which the IOC should invest

millions of pounds to get the platform right. After a few games,

we will have a state-of-the-art ticketing system. -- Games. In the

meantime, the London 2012 Paralympics are coming up. Can you

guarantee there will be no NTT's? cannot guarantee that. -- empty

seats. I can guarantee that we will work exceptionally hard to make

sure we sell more tickets than ever before. We sold more tickets in

football, women's football, than any other host nation ever has done.

The British public deserve the right to buy those seats. I

addressed this issue as chairman of the BOA. We needed to fill the

seats to back Team GB. We needed to fill the seats because the public

are passionate about sport. They must have the opportunity to go to

the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. When people were

in their suits, the press took every opportunity to take pictures

of them tucking into fast food. A lot of controversy about Coca-Cola

and McDonald's being sponsors. We have got a children's charity, the

children's food campaign, saying it was a valuable chance to create a

positive health legacy and it was squandered. Was it? I do not think

it was. The committee who choose the top sponsors, and you mention

two of them, they are not chosen by international individual Olympic

committees. They helped us to healthier food, having greater

opportunities to participate, getting more schools and his board.

Those sponsors have done that very well. -- More schools into sport. I

think McDonnell's have changed the quality of their food significantly.

-- McDonald's. They have responded to people putting emphasis on them

to improve the content of their food so that it is much more in

line with the IOC's image. It was not the only fast food chain that

was part of the official sponsors. There was chocolate, beer companies.

Jacques Rogge said the bottom line was to support individual

committees and federations or they would be in trouble. What does that

mean? No fast that sponsors, no Olympics? -- fast food. He has to

make sure that sponsorship comes in at the top level. Through the

investment that they make, battered to the international committees, we

can see the opportunity given to a lot of small countries to be able

to fund the athletes that come to the Games. -- back out to. My whole

life in sport has been about the athletes. If that can flow back to

committees and give young athletes the chance to come to the Games and

have the experience of a lifetime, I am absolutely comfortable with

that. You had a nation who wanted to share in the joy of the Games.

When local shops wanted to show the Olympic brand, the five rings, they

were told to take him down. Do you think that the IOC controls the

brand too tightly? I think there have been examples during the Games

when there was a bit of an over- zealous response to protect the

brand. There is a balance that needs to be struck between

recognising that the brand must be protected to maximise income to the

organisation and, on the other hand, not Uplyme a damper to the fact

that people are really engaged and inspired. -- applying. They do not

want to worried too much -- to worry too much about whether a not

a fish-and-chip shop has Olympic rings. That is a bit over-zealous

to me. So Jacques Rogge, the current President of the IOC, he is

about to step down after 12 years in that job. When you look at the

IOC as an organisation, do you think it is fit and healthy for the

21st century? It has had an amazing Games. What is its job? To deliver

an Olympic Games for the world to come together every four years.

These were a stunning Games. They were superbly organised. The

relationship between the organising committee and the IOC was close,

professional and effective. The IOC have left these shores thinking it

was an extraordinary Games that touched millions of people over the

world through television and inspired a generation and was

worthy of all the hard work that they put in. I think they will be

pleased with where they stand. change necessary for the future?

You always need to change as an organisation. I think the IOC will

look at the Games can see what they can learn from them. Speaking

personally, I think some of the things were not necessary. You need

to have support for athletes. Should the organisation itself be

more accountable? I am a passionate democrat. I always have been. I

voted in favour of reform of the House of Lords to make it more

accountable. That that was that in the House of Lords and the IOC is

the House of Lords is a revising chamber. The IOC runs the Olympic

world. I believe that over time it will become more accountable. Its

membership should not be appointed for life, as some of the mark. All

the membership should be accountable, either to the

international federations or to the athletes or to the National Olympic

Committee. Over time, I anticipate that will happen. Nobody can deny

it was a great Games this time round. One of the key points of the

London 2012 bid was about legacy. It was about inspiring a generation.

You could not go round the venues without seeing that Britain every

word. The 68 medals that Britain won, is that enough to inspire a

generation? -- everywhere. medalists are important. Evicting

you see the medal, gold, silver, bronze, that changes the life of

the people around them. -- every time you see the middle. Massively

inspirational. For me, being chairman, it is about helping the

athletes to do personal bests. If they did that, they would have a

phenomenal Games for Team GB. We wanted a genuine sports legacy. We

wanted to raise the bar for able- bodied and disabled kids across the

country. We have got a long way to He criticised the current

government and the previous government in the middle of the

Games. That is the best time to get a message across. It was important

to get that message across. The Government has been treading water

in this area. When he to have complete focus on teacher-training,

and primary school sport and the quality of that. We have to check

that the provision of school sport is of a high standard. The

community will be more engaged. I am passionate about sport. I

believe they should be a huge legacy and we should raise the bar

for everyone in this country. the coalition going in the right

direction? The government has cut a directive by the previous

government to ensure at least two hours of sport are played in a

school every single week. Michael Gove has recently announced changes

to the guidelines on playing fields which critics say bomb-maker easier

to sell them. Is that the right way forward? An announcement was made

funding would be secured before Rio. The athlete supported my fight. It

was a huge step forward. The Prime Minister said at Paris schools will

be the centre of competitive sports. That announcement needs to be

followed up. That is an important step forward. Sebastian Coe would

be an ambassador, he said. I have known him that since we went to our

first Games in 1980. He would not sit back and allow this to

disappear. The announcement shows there is a potential for change.

The work has only just begun. I will be doing everything I can to

take this to real concrete changes. At the moment, there are mixed

messages. You mentioned some things the David Cameron has promised. On

the other hand, Michael Gove is saying things that is completely

contradictory. I spoke to Michael Gove during the Games as much as I

spoke with the Prime Minister. He is absolutely aware of that we need

to capture of that extraordinary power of sport. And that we need to

transform it into policies that will benefit able-bodied and

disabled children across this country. It will not happen in the

narrow window of the Olympics and the Paralympics. It will be higher

up in the agenda then it has ever been in this country. Do we need to

improve organisation? Sir Keith Mills said there were some great

organisations doing some great work but they are not connected and the

government is not connected. There is no national strategy. He has his

finger on the polls one comes acronyms that some around in the

world of sports administration. We need to empower the clubs, the

schools, local communities, parents and volunteers. David Cameron has

spoken about the big society. This is the classic example of how the

bigger society can be put into practice. We need policies that

focus on giving young people, everybody, the opportunity to

participate. The word empowerment... Sir Keith Mills is right, we need

to start to build a new sports policy. Let's have a look their

women's sports. A female cyclist has won the medal in that sport for

the first time. She has used that platform did talk about sexism and

media coverage and the salary. That is the first thing that captured

the headlines. And what was the outcome? It was a massive

demonstration of girl power. The women of Team GB absolutely

excelled. Our first gold medal in rowing was a pair of women. Three

medals and will four in rowing which has to Stapley been male-

dominated. -- has traditionally. No-one is questioning girl power.

Women only got zero point five % of sponsorship. And 5% of TV coverage

in generate 2010 and 20th August 11. Social media is on a different part.

The female World Cup was the most tweeted event in 2011. No-one can

look at these Games or any other sport and say the women do not

absolutely perform and deserve to have huge support. I would go

further than that. Every sports organisation should look at

increasing the number of women who are involved in senior positions,

medal positions and junior positions. We need to embed the

role of women in sports administration to a far greater

degree than before. It used to be very male dominated. That means to

change. The athlete's message is that they want the change. I am a

supportive. There was a big push to send the now we men for the London

20 clubs and unpicks. Then comes the question of tokenism. The focus

from all three groups around the world to change their policy and

enable some of the outstanding women athletes to be

representatives of their country was a very welcome to focus. The

very fact of that debate was very much in the press of the Games and

it was welcomed. It was a stepping- stone towards the overall goal to

make sure there is a quality in the sport. There were some very

sensitive issues associated were some Islamic countries on the

subject. They did respond and that is a plus. Overall, the fact that

women are so much in the heart, in comparison to the 1908 when any two

events had women participating, through to 1948 when we took a step

forward. This Games has changed disport -- the face of sport.

80,000 people turned up to watch women's football. Were you there?

was not. I wish I had been. These were successful Games. These are

also expensive Games. The original bid was said over �4 billion. A

looks as -- it looks like it was at least double that was actually

spent. Is the feel-good factor were fed in these times of austerity

when services are being cut? answer is unquestionably yes. And

for one massive reason. Over the 9.3 billion that were spare,

overwhelmingly the main amount of the money was in regenerating the

poorest areas. It improved infrastructure, housing, facilities.

A green lung in the East End of London. It was a very deprived and

polluted area. A small can be the catalyst for urban regeneration,

that is money well spent. Not just for the community but for

generations to follow. As of November, you will be free of the

shackles of the British Olympic Association, where will we see you

next? The House of Lords? For the rest of my life, I will be fighting

the cause on behalf of the athletes. That has been a punished -- passion

all my life. It has been a huge privilege. I was speak openly and

public and as persuasively as I can to make sure we really raised the

bar and leave a serious sports legacy for these Games. What advice

do you have for Rio? Making your own Games. Learn the lessons from

the past. The one lesson I give them that we did in London was

reflect the Cosmoplitan nature of your city. Don't try and returned -

- improve on Beijing. We did not. We focus on London. They said there

were intimidated by London. They should not be. Rio will be a

fantastic Games. As long as a focus on what is great about Rio and

Brazil and reflect that in their Games. And use the volunteers. The

volunteers have made the Games. 70,000 people just want the extra

yard to make this a great Games for all our visitors and the athletes.