Security concerns for London Olympics

Officials have said that some workers had been unemployed for months or years.

Even government officials involved in the Olympics are calling it a fiasco, and their assessments have been backed up by whistle-blowers’ accounts that have sketched out the extent of the chaos that has thrown security plans into disarray only two weeks before the Games begin.

The problems go well beyond last week’s news of a shortfall in the number of civilian guards for the Games that had been promised by a security contractor; the shortfall is now expected to be filled by Britain’s armed forces.

Newspaper accounts have told of recruits hired for essential security tasks at more than 100 sites – including the main Olympic stadium, which seats 80,000 – falling asleep during training sessions. Instructors for G4S, the private company that has a $440 million contract to provide 10,400 guards for the Games, have complained of facing rows of recruits who speak little or no English.

One tabloid published a photograph, which it said had been taken at a training session, that showed a young woman slumped at her desk, apparently sleeping, with a youth alongside her apparently listening to music through earphones.

Hidden weapons

The account, in The Daily Mail, told of recruits repeatedly failing to spot fake bombs and grenades during X-ray training, and clearing people through security during their training without spotting hidden weapons, in one case a 9 mm pistol stuffed into a “test spectator’s” sock. The paper quoted one whistle-blower, whom it described as having a military background, as saying that some of the people were poorly educated and unprepared: “Some of the people on that course you would not hire to empty a dustbin.”

Officials with knowledge of Olympic planning who asked not to be identified have said that some workers had been unemployed for months or years. Newspaper reports have also said that among those who have completed their training and been deployed to Olympic sites, dropout rates have been as high as 50 per cent.

G4S, which has more than 650,000 employees in 125 countries, came forward Saturday to offer an apology for not being able to provide enough security guards. The company’s chief executive, Nick Buckles, said in an interview with the BBC that it had realized only ‘eight or nine days ago’ – more than six months after it signed a contract calling for it to provide 13,400 guards, with 3,000 as a back-up against dropouts – that it would not be able to meet its commitments. “We deeply regret that,” he said.

On Thursday, when the government acknowledged the extent of the bungling and announced that it would be adding 3,500 additional troops to the 13,500 troops already committed to security duties at the Games, it offered assurances that the security for the 17 days of competition would not be compromised. Theresa May, the home secretary, who is one of the most powerful figures in prime minister David Cameron’s government, laid the blame on G4S and Olympic organizers who negotiated the G4S contract and said that the extent of the security mismanagement had only ‘crystallised’ 24 hours before she reported it to the House of Commons.

Lawmakers have said they will summon G4S executives and others involved in the security planning to testify about the imbroglio when Parliament reconvenes after its summer break, weeks after the Olympic Games have ended. In any case, the political fallout for the Cameron government is likely to be mitigated by the fact that much of the planning for the Games – or lack of it, as it appears now – took place in the five years after they were awarded to London in 2005, when the opposition Labour Party was in power.

In the dispute over security planning, the picture that has emerged has been one of haphazard planning going back several years. The original contract with G4S provided for only 2,000 guards, and a relatively small military contingent.

Those plans underwent a radical overhaul in December, in part, officials say, because of pressure from the United States in the form of warnings about vulnerability to terrorist attacks that came from a specialized team of FBI and CIA officials monitoring Olympic preparations. A Cabinet committee led by Cameron approved a fivefold increase in the number of private guards to be recruited by G4S, and a similar increase in police and military deployments.

On Saturday, Buckles, the G4S boss, said the company had deployed 4,000 trained guards, but could not say how long it might take to complete the training and security-vetting of another 9,000 that it had in the pipeline. He said the company has promised to pay for the additional military deployments, and expected to incur an $80 million loss on the Olympic contract.

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Security concerns for London Olympics

Officials have said that some workers had been unemployed for months or years.

Even government officials involved in the Olympics are calling it a fiasco, and their assessments have been backed up by whistle-blowers’ accounts that have sketched out the extent of the chaos that has thrown security plans into disarray only two weeks before the Games begin.

The problems go well beyond last week’s news of a shortfall in the number of civilian guards for the Games that had been promised by a security contractor; the shortfall is now expected to be filled by Britain’s armed forces.

Newspaper accounts have told of recruits hired for essential security tasks at more than 100 sites – including the main Olympic stadium, which seats 80,000 – falling asleep during training sessions. Instructors for G4S, the private company that has a $440 million contract to provide 10,400 guards for the Games, have complained of facing rows of recruits who speak little or no English.

One tabloid published a photograph, which it said had been taken at a training session, that showed a young woman slumped at her desk, apparently sleeping, with a youth alongside her apparently listening to music through earphones.

Hidden weapons

The account, in The Daily Mail, told of recruits repeatedly failing to spot fake bombs and grenades during X-ray training, and clearing people through security during their training without spotting hidden weapons, in one case a 9 mm pistol stuffed into a “test spectator’s” sock. The paper quoted one whistle-blower, whom it described as having a military background, as saying that some of the people were poorly educated and unprepared: “Some of the people on that course you would not hire to empty a dustbin.”

Officials with knowledge of Olympic planning who asked not to be identified have said that some workers had been unemployed for months or years. Newspaper reports have also said that among those who have completed their training and been deployed to Olympic sites, dropout rates have been as high as 50 per cent.

G4S, which has more than 650,000 employees in 125 countries, came forward Saturday to offer an apology for not being able to provide enough security guards. The company’s chief executive, Nick Buckles, said in an interview with the BBC that it had realized only ‘eight or nine days ago’ – more than six months after it signed a contract calling for it to provide 13,400 guards, with 3,000 as a back-up against dropouts – that it would not be able to meet its commitments. “We deeply regret that,” he said.

On Thursday, when the government acknowledged the extent of the bungling and announced that it would be adding 3,500 additional troops to the 13,500 troops already committed to security duties at the Games, it offered assurances that the security for the 17 days of competition would not be compromised. Theresa May, the home secretary, who is one of the most powerful figures in prime minister David Cameron’s government, laid the blame on G4S and Olympic organizers who negotiated the G4S contract and said that the extent of the security mismanagement had only ‘crystallised’ 24 hours before she reported it to the House of Commons.

Lawmakers have said they will summon G4S executives and others involved in the security planning to testify about the imbroglio when Parliament reconvenes after its summer break, weeks after the Olympic Games have ended. In any case, the political fallout for the Cameron government is likely to be mitigated by the fact that much of the planning for the Games – or lack of it, as it appears now – took place in the five years after they were awarded to London in 2005, when the opposition Labour Party was in power.

In the dispute over security planning, the picture that has emerged has been one of haphazard planning going back several years. The original contract with G4S provided for only 2,000 guards, and a relatively small military contingent.

Those plans underwent a radical overhaul in December, in part, officials say, because of pressure from the United States in the form of warnings about vulnerability to terrorist attacks that came from a specialized team of FBI and CIA officials monitoring Olympic preparations. A Cabinet committee led by Cameron approved a fivefold increase in the number of private guards to be recruited by G4S, and a similar increase in police and military deployments.

On Saturday, Buckles, the G4S boss, said the company had deployed 4,000 trained guards, but could not say how long it might take to complete the training and security-vetting of another 9,000 that it had in the pipeline. He said the company has promised to pay for the additional military deployments, and expected to incur an $80 million loss on the Olympic contract.

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G4S shares fall 9% over London Olympics debacle

It admitted it could not provide 10,400 venue guards it had been contracted to deliver, costing the firm up to £50m. The admission forced the  British government to call up 3,500 extra troops and police as cover and has put pressure on company with 2011 revenues of £7.5 billion.

Running care homes and prisons, fighting pirates and mystery shopping, G4S was long in the background of many people's lives before its London Olympics debacle put the company in the middle of a media and political storm. The G4S group is made up of a list of businesses that spans five continents and employs more than 657,000 staff, making it the world's second largest private sector employer behind U.S. retailer Wal-Mart and world's biggest the biggest security company.

The British group targeted London's Olympics as a flagship security deal that would put it on the map and help win new work at home and abroad. The hostile headlines, made worse by Prime Minister David Cameron calling for G4S to face the consequences, have been a harsh wake-up call for a company that has been an active part of most people's lives for much longer than they realise.

In its core British market, the firm with the slogan "securing your world" has a hand in everything from airport security and immigration, to running prisons, police forces and cleaning and catering in schools and hospitals. The group also trains British troops before deployment, handles the administration of penalty train fares, installs residential smart energy meters, runs children's homes and manages cash transportation for banks and retailers.

Around the world it protects embassies, manages more than 40,000 electronically tagged offenders, guards ports and airports as well as nuclear, oil, gas and mining sites, and even protects container ships from pirates off Africa and Malaysia. Staff range from spotty teenagers directing crowds at events such as Wimbledon to former SAS soldiers and police specialists able to construct anti-kidnapping strategies or assist local police forces.

Government contracts amount to over half of the company's British revenue and the market makes up over 20% of its bid pipeline, including contracts to run seven prisons that will be awarded later this year. Dealing in such high security areas means its work has not been without controversy. The group, which became a global giant in 2004 when Securicor merged with Danish company Group 4 Falck, which had had to deal with a number of prison riots and escapes before the merger.

Last year the firm left prisoners locked up for almost 24 hours at a Birmingham jail after losing the keys to cells, and in an other incident guards tagged a man's false leg, allowing him to remove it and break a court-imposed curfew. G4S, whose shareholders' meetings are often attended by protest groups, faced criticism over the death in 2010 of Angolan deportee Jimmy Mubenga, who collapsed on a commercial flight from London's Heathrow Airport.

The problems have more recently spread to the boardroom. Last year G4S, which competes against rivals such as Securitas and Serco, felt the wrath of its investors when it caved in to pressure to scrap a planned £5.2 billion acquisition of Danish cleaning firm ISS.

The failed move, which required a £2 billion rights issue and would have seen the group become even larger with a push into the less controversial cleaning and catering sector, cost the firm around £50m in advisers' fees. Chief Executive Nick Buckles, admired internally for his wide knowledge of every part of the business, had his strong credibility to thank for not losing his job, but some have warned his 27-year stay may not last much longer following the Olympics debacle.

Buckles' damage control efforts began at the weekend with a series of media interviews but had little effect on Monday, when G4S shares fell 9% on the London Stock Exchange. While the weeks ahead will be a nervous time for Buckles, the blame may also fall on senior UK events management figures Mark Hamilton - who has worked as a bodyguard to Paul McCartney - and Ian Horseman Sewell, who just 10 days ago told Reuters G4S was confident it could run the Olympics Games and another similar-sized event elsewhere at the same time.

Buckles will face a British parliamentary committee hearing tomorrow to explain the Olympics fiasco, a meeting that could have some effect on the firm's ability to win new work in the crucial government sector.

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London Olympics security gaps mount as athletes arrive

Britain's interior minister says the security firm G4S repeatedly assured the government it would exceed its targets for recruiting Olympic staff and only admitted last week it could not meet the terms of its contract.

Home Secretary Theresa May said Monday that G4S had "repeatedly assured us that they would overshoot their target."

Britain is calling in 3,500 extra troops to cover the positions G4S could not fill.

G4S chairman John Connolly says senior managers could lose their jobs over the fiasco.

The company said Monday its loss on the contract would range between $54 million and $78 million US in this financial year.

A loss of $78 million is about 12 to 13 per cent of the company's annual profit, analysts calculated.

The country's Olympic security plans fell under fresh scrutiny Sunday, with a newspaper report that several people on a terrorism watch list have been waved through airport border controls without being flagged and the revelation that the government was warned 10 months ago about the ability of G4S to fulfil its staffing obligations.

With less than two weeks until the opening ceremony, and athletes from around the world starting to arrive for the Games, government ministers are insisting the Games will be secure and dismissing the G4S fiasco as no more than a "hitch." However, those assurances are being increasingly questioned. The Observer reported Sunday that, since the start of the month, immigration staff at London's Heathrow Airport have let through several people on a security watch list. When people on the list arrive in the country, it is supposed to be reported to counter-terrorism police or Britain's domestic intelligence service.

The newspaper cited unions as suggesting staff brought in to help relieve pressure at Heathrow, which has faced recurring problems handling large influxes of passengers, weren't being properly trained. The airport, Europe's busiest, has recently struggled to clear huge lines that build up at immigration checkpoints during peak times, leading to fears of Olympics-related chaos as tourists fly in to watch the games.

London has four other airports, but Heathrow is the only airport where participants can get their Olympic credentials, so it is handling the bulk of arrivals for the Olympics, which start July 27 and end Aug. 12.

The newspaper report left it unclear whether the people on the watch list were still in the country, whether they were intercepted later, or exactly why they had attracted the attention of counter-terrorism officials in the first place. Britain's Home Office declined to comment Sunday on the story.

G4S warning issued 10 months ago

In another development, the Independent on Sunday newspaper reported top Home Office officials had been warned by police nearly a year ago about concerns over the ability of G4S to provide enough staff for the Olympics. The warning came last September in a report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, the national police oversight body.

Some action was taken in the wake of that report, namely increasing to 10,400 from 2,000 the number of security guards requested from G4S. However, the firm confirmed last week it will be unable to supply the needed staff, which will require at least 3,500 additional British troops to be deployed instead — all at G4S's cost.

The British minister in charge of the Olympics appeared on a BBC talk show Sunday to try to contain the scandal. Jeremy Hunt noted that G4S boss Nick Buckles had apologized and would be footing the bill for the last-minute military deployment. Buckles, who is due before a House of Commons committee Tuesday, has admitted he may be forced to quit his $1.3-million-a-year job in the wake of the Olympic debacle.

"I don't think this is a moment for getting into the blame game," Hunt said. "G4S has been quite honourable. They put their hands up. Nick Buckles, their chief executive, has said they got it wrong."

Hunt insisted the government realized only last week that G4S would not be able to meet its targets and that it immediately activated its contingency plans.

Yvette Cooper, the opposition Labour Party's critic for the Home Office, blasted the government for their handling of the situation.

"It is incomprehensible that the Home Office didn't know about this," she said.

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Posted in: London Olympics,London Olympics 2012

Samsung India launches digital campaign to support the Indian team in London Olympics 2012

Samsung India, the official sponsor of the Indian team to the London 2012 Olympic Games, has launched a campaign on Facebook with a ‘Fans Speak’ application that allows fans to send their best wishes to the Indian team members. Users can also wish the Indian team by accessing the application through their mobile phones.

According to the company, this is done to rally its support for the Indian Olympic team and as part of its endeavor to make this year’s Olympics one that everyone can truly be part of.  The company has also simultaneously setup more than 500 kiosks with Samsung Galaxy SIII, the official Olympics phone, across its Smartphone cafes and mobile retail channel from where users can send their wishes to the team. 

Samsung has also created a special application on Olympics - ‘PlayUp’ that can be downloaded on select Samsung Smartphones from the London 2012 category of the Samsung Mobile Apps store. This application allows users to download real time status including schedules, medal tally, key events and standings, as well as provide an access to a host of other interesting details pertaining to Games throughout the Olympics.

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Posted in: London Olympics 2012

London Olympics 2012: David Beckham will be missed by London after being snubbed by Team GB

The Games will miss David Beckham. Not because he’s box-to-box office, although good luck to Locog shifting those 1 million unsold tickets. Beckham will be missed because his commitment to the Games is well-noted, helping to bring the show to London.

However much Beckham is perceived as a brand or a celebrity, he’s still a 37-year-old man who loves his football.

He should not be near the England team but then Micah Richards, who has effectively taken his Olympic place according to Stuart Pearce, turned down the opportunity to go on standby for Euro 2012. Beckham still cares.

Beckham will be missed because his relentless passion for his profession would be useful for the youngsters in Pearce’s squad to appreciate at close quarters. He could have contributed on the field as well; the very fact that he was in Pearce’s provisional squad of 35 reflects that he must have had some value.

At the very least, Pearce has handled this poorly. Somebody who has done so much for football on these shores, and for the Olympics, as Beckham deserved to be treated with greater respect. Beckham was typically dignified, hiding his frustration. Class.The whole debate is all rather surreal for those not in thrall to the five-ringed circus. Football should not be at the Games as it not the pinnacle of the sport. The World Cup is. The rules are weird anyway.

The ability of a coach to select three players aged over 23 immediately renders the competition a hybrid. It would be easier to take Olympic football more seriously if it were the Under-21 World Cup, a real ding-dong of a Fifa spectacle showcasing the next generation.

It would make even more sense from an international footballing perspective if England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales had held a four-way contest to pick one entrant, not this ersatz Team GB.

Those who view the world through the Olympic prism cannot understand that the GB concept is ali

en to most of the modern football-going fraternity.

International competition is England labouring to Italy at Euro 2012 with 23 million people tuning in. It is Northern Ireland upsetting England at Windsor Park in 2005, Scotland running Brazil so close on a warm Parisian evening at France 98 and Wales defeating Germany at Cardiff Arms Park in 1991.

It is not Team GB versus Senegal. So it is sad Beckham won’t be there. He would have played as if the game actually mattered. The London Olympics will miss this Londoner.

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Posted in: David Beckham,London Olympics 2012

London calling for big Olympics

David Beckham will be missing and so, likely, will Oscar Pistorius, whose remarkable run on his magical blades came up agonizingly short. They were always going to be sideshows in London anyway, in an Olympics that hardly needs a supporting cast.

When London snatched the Olympics out of the hands of Paris a few years back, the British were pretty confident they would score well. But even organizing chief Sebastian Coe couldn't have imagined the spectacle that will play out over 17 days in London.

The Queen will be on hand, of course. So will Paul McCartney, leading some 80,000 people in a sing along to open the games this month.

The former Beatle will top an opening act that, in contrast to the sterile proceedings in Beijing, features sheep, horses and chickens, among other things. There's even a cloud that produces rain, as if London needs any more of that.

Then the real stars take the stage for what could be an Olympics unlike any other.

We've gotten a taste of it over the past few weeks as Michael Phelps dueled with Ryan Lochte in the pool, Usain Bolt for a moment found himself the second-best runner in his own country, and American gymnasts showed off the kind of depth that could potentially lead to a bunch of medals.

But there's more, much more. Always is in an Olympics, even if some of the sports are so arcane they are barely understandable.

Swimming is one we do understand, and this could be the swim meet of the century. Phelps might not win eight golds again with Lochte challenging him at almost every turn, but he will win enough to add to his 14 gold medals and stamp himself as perhaps the greatest Olympian ever.

Lochte will win his share of gold, too, but the breakout star in the pool could be 17-year-old Missy Franklin, who already has the best nickname in the sport. Missy the Missile has big hands, size 13 feet, and the kind of sprinter's speed that should make her a multiple medalist.

Just when everyone gets out of the water and takes a deep breath, track begins, and Bolt takes center stage. But the World's Fastest Man was beaten by countryman Yohan Blake in the 100 meters in Jamaica's Olympic trials and also could be challenged by Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay in a 100 that brings back hints of the 1988 final in Seoul with Carl Lewis and the soon-to-be-disgraced Ben Johnson.

In between the biggest names in tennis will duel on the grass at Wimbledon, and a U.S. basketball team headed by LeBron and Kobe will preen its way to another gold. And then there's Zara Phillips, the 31-year-old granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth, carrying on a family tradition and competing in equestrian.

Yes, Beijing was grand and majestic. Everything was new and clean, even if sometimes it seemed the spectators weren't sure what they were watching.

But it can't match the flavor of these games, with tennis at Wimbledon, beach volleyball just outside the prime minister's 10 Downing Street residence, and apparently enough barnyard animals on display that you'll think you're lounging in the English countryside.

NBC says it won't make money, not surprising because the network spent $1.18 billion just for the rights for these games. But the storylines from London should prove compelling enough to draw huge primetime audiences, even in today's world where anyone with Twitter or a news app on their mobile phone will know the winner long before the network packages it up nicely and beams it into your living room.

What makes the Olympics so special isn't simply that 10,000 athletes from around the world gather together and countries like the U.S. and China duke it out for the medal count. It's that for most athletes it's their one moment of glory, a moment so fleeting that it takes all the mental fortitude they have not to choke their guts out.

We saw it at the trials, where winning was big, but scoring that ticket to London was even bigger. It's almost always accompanied by a huge feeling of relief, especially so for people like swimmer Jessica Hardy, who was kept from going to Beijing because of a failed drug test.

"I'm going to London!" Hardy exclaimed on Twitter after winning the 100 freestyle Saturday night. "Swam race of my life tonight, all heart and soul."

Others had their hearts broken, but that's often what chasing an Olympic dream comes down to. For the most part Olympic hopefuls aren't superstars who make millions like Phelps or LeBron. Indeed, the vast majority can barely pay the rent and must rely on other jobs or donations to make ends meet so that someday they can tell their children or grandchildren they were an Olympian.

For them it might all come down to one vault, one hurdle to get over, or one big punch. They have no guaranteed contracts, just hope that when their chance finally comes they somehow can find a way to rise to the occasion.

Those are the kind of stories that will emerge from London, and that's what makes the Olympics so enthralling.

The Brits would have liked Beckham, who helped London win the games, playing for the home team in soccer, but for some reason he wasn't picked. Pistorius, the South African, didn't qualify, either, though he still has an outside chance of becoming the first double amputee in the games if South Africa picks him for the 1,600 relay.

For thousands of others, though, London is calling. The city is ready for them, with little of the baggage incurred by other Olympic hosts.

It should be a jolly time, perhaps even a smashing success.

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic