Pictured above: (left to right) Daniel Gidney, Chief
Executive of the Ricoh Arena, Johnathan Edwards and David
Moorcroft.
The Ricoh Arena, the home of Coventry City Football Club has
been selected as the new Midlands venue to host Olympic Football
matches in 2012. This follows a selection procedure by the
London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) and means that all venues
are now in place for the London Games.
The venue will be temporarily re-named the City of Coventry
Stadium for the London 2012 Olympic Games and all other branding
will be removed at Games time. The Stadium replaces Villa Park
which was ruled out because of planned building development
work.
Seb Coe, LOCOG Chair, said: 'The City of Coventry Stadium is a
great venue, and will be an excellent host for Football matches for
the London 2012 Olympic Games. It is ideally located in the centre
of England and the city already has strong links with London 2012.
I congratulate Coventry and extend my thanks to all the Midlands
clubs who applied to be a venue. All were a very good standard, and
this shows the excellent standards of football stadia in this
country.'
Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport and the Olympics, said:
'Sitting at the heart of the Midlands, the City of Coventry Stadium
is ideally located for thousands of people to come and watch the
London 2012 football competition and be inspired to get involved in
sport.'
Daniel Gidney, Chief Executive of the Ricoh Arena, said: 'We are
looking forward enormously to staging Olympic football in Coventry.
This is a great honour and we are proud to be involved with
the Games. We have worked hard over the last few months to
prepare our bid and I would like to thank all our partners and
organisations involved for their support.'
David Moorcroft, Chair of the West Midlands Leadership Group for
the 2012 Games said: "It is fantastic news that the City of
Coventry Stadium will host the Football tournament taking place as
part of London 2012. It is a real boost for the region and
for Coventry as it will bring real economic benefit as the Olympic
teams and their fans visit the city. Personally, as I am
Coventry born and bred, I am delighted to see my home city
identified as a venue and look forward to experiencing part of the
2012 Games as it takes place on my doorstep.'
Martin Reeves, Chief Executive of Coventry City Council, said:
'2012 promises to be an outstanding year for the city. As
well as the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we'll be marking the 50th
anniversary of the consecration of Coventry Cathedral, and there's
an important link between the city's strong message of peace and
reconciliation symbolised by the Cathedral, and the spirit of
respect, fairness and sporting competition.'
Coventry has other strong links to London 2012, having been
confirmed as a London 2012 Live Site venue, which will see a big
screen installed at Coventry Transport Museum in the city centre.
Several businesses in the region have been awarded
London 2012-related contracts. There is also an exciting project
underway in Coventry called 'Godiva Awakes' which is commissioned
through Artists Taking the Lead, and forms part of London 2012's
Cultural Olympiad and is funded by Arts Council England. A 10
metre high Lady Godiva will be created, and she will awake from her
sleeping chamber in July 2012 to a spectacular performance.
Powered by 50 cyclists, Godiva will then journey to London to
play a part in the all the celebrations.