Arsenal football club today announced its support for London’s Bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Arsenal is the latest London football club to become an Official Supporter of the Bid and will be launching the agreement as they take on Crystal Palace at Highbury this evening.
Sir Steve Redgrave, five-time Olympic Gold Medallist, will attend the game on behalf of London 2012. Sir Steve will be on the pitch before the match and is set to be joined by Arsenal defenders Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell ahead of kick-off, to mark the launch of Arsenal’s new supporter’s role.
Peter Hill-Wood, Arsenal Chairman said: ‘Arsenal Football Club is delighted to be officially supporting the London 2012 Olympic Bid. Staging the Olympics would not only offer London the opportunity to successfully showcase the World’s best sporting talent, but the Games would give the city a great boost, providing many areas of London with a significant level of regeneration.’
Sir Steve said: ‘I am pleased that more and more football clubs like Arsenal are coming on board to demonstrate their support for the Bid, which has the backing of the Premier League. 13 million spectators watch professional football in this country each season, which demonstrates this country’s passion for sport.’
Ashley Cole said: ‘If we get 2012 Olympic Games, it would be a positive boost not only for London, but for the whole country. I was born and bred in east London and know that the local people will relish the opportunity to show that London can successfully host an event of this size.’
Sol Campbell said: ‘If we get the Olympics in London in 2012, the transformation of east London would be phenomenal. I’m actually from Stratford, which is at the heart of the proposed London 2012 developments and this bid obviously means a lot to me. This is a perfect opportunity to achieve what would be an amazing event for the country.’
London 2012’s plans for the 2012 Olympic football tournament will use world famous stadia across the UK. The finals will be held at the new state of the art Wembley stadium, which will be the largest stadium in the world.
Notes to Editors:
The club will show its support by screening promotional films, making PA announcements at matches, providing advertising space in their programme, and generally promoting the Bid among its fans both in the UK overseas. Every email sent from the club now includes a message of support for London 2012.
Arsenal’s announcement follows the recent launch of the Premier League’s marketing campaign in support of the Bid.
Arsenal joins Premier League clubs Charlton and Chelsea as an official supporter of the bid.
Back the bid – register your support now on http://www.london2012.com/ or text the word LONDON to 82012.
For further information contact the London 2012 Press Office on 020 7093 5100 or the Arsenal press office on 020 7704 4010