Riots will not be tolerated during Games says Coe

Riots that rocked London this month were nothing more than “illegal night shopping” and will not be tolerated during the 2012 Olympics, Lord Sebastian Coe the chairman of the organising committee told AFP.

The frenzy of looting and destruction, which started in the north London district of Tottenham on August 6 before spreading across the capital and to other cities, left five people dead in the worst riots in England for decades.

Police have arrested more than 2,000 people in London alone in connection with the violence.

Coe said it was not the London he knew.

“I am a true Londoner. I was born in London and my parents were born in London, my grandparents on my father’s side were born in east London, exactly where we’re doing the work in Olympic Park,” he said.

“That is not the London that I understand, that I love and that I recognise. That was not London. Nobody should draw conclusions from what they saw.”

But Coe, a two-time Olympic 1,500m gold medallist in 1980 and 1984, did not dismiss the potential effect of the images of violence and looting which have been seen around the world.

“Internationally, to have pictures like that going around the world was not good. But they (riots) were brought under control in two days,” he said.

And he issued a stark warning in view of the London Olympics.

“We will have systems in place,” he said.

“Security, you review all the time. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in a tough climate or a benign environment.

“You review security every day and we will have contingency arrangements in place that are very strong and, yes, they will deal with any issues of public disorder.”

During the riots, London was hosting six test events at Olympic venues and Coe hailed their success as testament to the spirit of the majority of people in London.

“I had 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in London at the time. We had six test events going on at the same time,” he said.

“What I was able to show the 205 NOCs with us at the time was that this city, under extra-ordinary challenges, still delivered six test events with no interruptions.”