Source: www.insidethegames.biz

By Duncan Mackay

The British Olympic Association's (BOA) cash problems are set to force them to suffer the embarrassment of being unable to stage one of the Olympic Movement's most important and high-profile meetings in London next year.

The BOA were due to organise the General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) just three months before the start of the Games in London.

The bi-annual event is attended by more than 200 National Olympic Committees and is held in conjunction with a meeting of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) ruling Executive Board.

But the BOA are now set to inform the ANOC, which is headed by Mexican millionaire Mario Vázquez Raña, that they cannot afford the £5 million ($8 million) it is estimated that it would cost to host the event.

Athens and Beijing held the Assembly in 2004 and 2008 respectively, just a few months before they staged the Olympics and Paralympics.

The 2012 event is now likely to be held instead in Mexico.

"The final decision regarding the location for the 2012 ANOC Executive Board Meeting and General Assembly rests with the leadership of ANOC," a spokesman for the BOA told insidethegames.

"We are fully committed and pleased to be doing our part to support them."

Colin_Moynihan_in_Singapore_August_2010But the BOA's failure to be able to organise the General Assembly is another setback for the political ambitions of Colin Moynihan (pictured), its chairman.

His ambitions of becoming an IOC member have already been hit by the row between the BOA and London 2012 over the surplus from next year's Olympics, which has been referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Several senior IOC members have told insidethegames that Moynihan's reputation within the Olympic Movement has been damaged by the row, especially after he rejected an offer from President Jacques Rogge earlier this month to personally intervene and help broker a solution.

The IOC last week ruled in favour of London 2012, deciding that the BOA had no claim over any surplus before the Paralympics has also been taken into account.

The BOA has hired David Pannick, one of the country's most expensive barristers, to represent them at the CAS hearing.

Pannick also worked for the BOA in 2008 when they successfully defeated sprinter Dwain Chambers' controversial attempts to overturn his life ban that prevents him representing Britain in the Olympics.

The dispute with London 2012 was top of the agenda when the BOA's Board of Directors held its regularly-scheduled, bi-monthly meeting today, where Moynihan was quizzed closely on his decision to take the case to the CAS.