I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT I WASN’T LEAPING AROUND LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT LONDON IS TO HOST THE 2012 OLYMPICS.

There has been a stream of excited chatter about having the world’s greatest athletes on our doorstep, but at what price? I am yet to be convinced that the whole project will not hit us Londoners hard in the pocket and, as Hackney Council will testify from their postbag, I’m already not happy with the local tax we are forced to pay. It has been hinted that as 2012 approaches we’ll be paying a lot more.

When I voiced this opinion to somebody from Manchester, host city of the successful 2002 Commonwealth Games, their answer was: “Yeah, but you are paying to have the world’s greatest sporting event a Tube ride away.” That of course assumes I want to go to see Kayak Flatwater racing, Trampolining, Clay Pigeon shooting or Artistic Gymnastics and I’m supposed to be a sports fanatic. Many Londoners would take the Tube in the opposite direction to avoid such delights, yet they too will be paying through the nose via their council tax just like the rest of us.

I saved my biggest sneer though for the football tournament. Apart from the new Wembley stadium, assuming it has opened in time, the venues selected to host football for the 2012 London games are: Villa Park (Birmingham), Old Trafford (Manchester), St James’ Park (Newcastle), Hampden Park (Glasgow) and the Millennium stadium (Cardiff).

So the one sport away from the athletics track that may tease a few Londoners to fork out a few quid for the entrance fee is actually being spread out not just across the nation but all over Britain. This is the London Olympics remember. Much as the Millennium stadium has impressed Hammers fans travelling to Cardiff for the Championship playoff final for the past two seasons, who will actually make the same trip for Mali v Iraq or Ghana v Costa Rica, teams that competed in Athens 2004?

At Sydney 2000, the football final was played at the Olympic Park, situated about seven miles west of the city centre. The qualifying rounds were played at the 42,000 capacity Sydney Football Stadium, part of the Harbour Zone, a mile from the city centre.

There is no justifiable reason why Premiership grounds in the Midlands and north of England should be preferred to what London has to offer. Arsenal’s Ashburton Grove complex, with its 60,000 capacity Emirates stadium, will have been open in north London for six years come 2012. There are already plans for Stamford Bridge in the west to be extended beyond its present 42,500 limit, White Hart Lane can accommodate over 36,000 fans and don’t forget that the stadium you are in right now hosted a full England international two and a half years ago.

To help the blood boil nicely, it has been suggested that we enter a Great Britain team into the competition. Since 1947, England and the other home nations have fought against any suggestions from Fifa, world football’s governing body, that a Great Britain football team be entered into anything. The fear is that to do it once would lead to it becoming a permanent suggestion and we would have to enter a Great Britain XI into the World Cup, eventually signalling the end of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as individual football nations.

On September 1, Fifa president Sepp Blatter gave his recommendation that there be a Great Britain football team competing in the 2012 Olympics. While the English Football Association has responded positively, the Scottish FA feels that to agree to the proposal would be similar to turkeys voting for Christmas. I agree, so now I have Fifa’s president to thank for me supporting Scotland over England. Can things get any worse?