AOC president John Coates, re-elected unopposed for the position he has held for 19 years at the AOC's annual general meeting yesterday, said $29 million (£14.6 million) of the $36 million (£18.1 million) sponsorship target for the 2012 campaign had been raised already.

 

Coates said another $3 million (£1.5 million) of funding was on the verge of being finalised.

 

He said: "We are very fortunate to be in a position of having been selling, not just for the current Olympiad, but one or two in advance and we are sitting on $32 million (£16.1 million) out of the $36 million (£18.1 million) for the 2009-2012 Olympiad."

 

Coates said the decision to try and secure sponsorships well ahead of the London Olympics had paid off, as it would be difficult to raise that amount now given the current economic climate.

 

He said: "If we were starting now, we wouldn't be able to secure those sponsorships."