Games head’s deficit threat

Press, 25 July 1986, Page 4

Games head’s deficit threat

From

KEVIN TUTTY

in Edinburgh Mr Robert Maxwell, chairman of the Commonwealth Games organising committee, has threatened to use the might of his Mirror Newspaper group and associated television stations to ensure that boycotting countries and the Thatcher Government meet' any deficit the Games incur.

At a press conference in the Games Village yesterday morning, the last before the opening ceremony, Mr Maxwell said he had told one High Commissioner of a “high ranking” country that has boycotted the Games of his intention, and got a startled reaction.

“The High Commis-

sioner asked me how I intended to enforce my threat to make boycotting countries pay £2 million. “Are you going to send in the Gurkhas?”

I said that our Imperial past was over and that there were other ways of encouraging countries to meet their debts.

“I told him I would promise to remind his Government through our newspapers and television stations that they had welched on their deal at the Commonwealth Games, and would continue to remind them until they met the debt. “I can tell you the Commissioner fell silent and sucked his teeth.” Mr Maxwell also promised to bill the British Government for any deficit that remained. He said the Government must

meet some responsibility for the debt because it had caused the boycott He said that he had useful ways of encouraging Governments to meet their debts. Mr Maxwell was evasive when questioned regarding the likely deficit from the Games. He said that money was still being received by the British public for the Games, and that yesterday he had received an anonymous donation of £25,000. He did say that £1

million had been lost from sponsors scared off by the boycott

Mr Maxwell issued a warning to organising ’ committees of future Games that they could not expect to run such a large sporting festival without professional assistance and without considerable Government funding. Edinburgh had tried bravely to run the Games without either, and might just have done so but for the boycott