Source: www.sportbusiness.com

UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for a swift resolution to the current dispute between the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the organising committee for the London 2012 Games (LOCOG).

The BOA, which is effectively seeking a bigger cut of any financial surplus to arise from the Games, is taking its dispute with LOCOG to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. The disagreement escalated late last week when BOA chairman Lord Moynihan and CEO Andy Hunt were barred from LOCOG board meetings.

"This is not the right argument to be having so close to the Olympics in our country," Hunt told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek. "I think it is an extraordinary thing that just over a year before the Games that we are going into this sort of dispute, which frankly is not going to benefit anyone."

Hunt added: "We need to sort it out quickly, it is just very disappointing and I do not think anyone would say it is the right way to be focusing our energies...I can't really see how anyone's going to be a winner from this because there is no more money."

The dispute centres on whether the BOA is entitled to a share of the surplus from the Olympics alone, or the Games and Paralympics combined.

The BOA has insisted the two events should be kept separate on the final balance sheet, but the International Olympic Committee recently backed LOCOG's claim that the Olympics and Paralympic Games should be combined before surplus payments are distributed.