After years of wrangling, Olympic organisers are expected to decide this week on the shooting venue for the London 2012 Games, setting itself on a potential collision course with the international governing body.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wants a compact Games centred on London, and a site at the historic Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich has been earmarked.
The British Olympic Board, under pressure from the shooting lobby, has delayed a decision.
British Shooting, the sport's governing body, has campaigned energetically for a site 35 miles outside London in Bisley, Surrey.
The result has been that shooting is one of the last venues to be settled, and the IOC, wanting to pin down a site, has asked for the matter to be resolved no later than this month.
The National Shooting Centre at Bisley, which has a history and association with British Shooting, was the initial choice of the 2012 organisers, but was ditched during the bidding process after the IOC made its views clear.
British Shooting has nevertheless garnered support from MPs and attracted signatures to a Downing Street online petition.
Its impact is all the more remarkable considering the sport is viewed with suspicion among the general public following the Dunblane primary school massacre in 1996 when 16 children and a teacher were shot dead by a loner.
But shooting has traditionally been viewed as one of Britain's most successful Olympic sports, with a total of 43 medals, coming eighth in the country's all-time medal table.
Its campaign has played on the Olympic Board's concerns over costs and its promise of a post-Games legacy.
"It's because their case isn't good enough to absolutely shut us up," said Phil Boakes, chairman of British Shooting.
"We are an itch they cannot scratch because we've got too good a case."
The London Olympics overall budget has already spiralled from its original estimate of 2.4 billion pounds to 9.3 billion pounds.
Holding shooting at Bisley would cost up to 32 million pounds -- 10 million pounds cheaper than Woolwich, Boakes said.
He also said Bisley would provide a legacy, a key plank in London winning the bid, unlike Woolwich which would only be temporary.
Another consideration is accommodation and safety. Woolwich is a working army barracks and hundreds of soldiers and their families live there.
The Defence Ministry said in a statement it remained committed to Woolwich being used during the Games, "subject to there being minimal disruption to army personnel, their families and to the operations of the barracks."
Accommodation at Bisley would not be a problem because a nearby college could house the expected 500 shooters, Boakes said.
Upgrading Bisley to Olympic standard would involve expanding on to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which are conservation areas protected under law.
English Nature, which is responsible for SSSIs in England, told Reuters it was waiting for further details of the development's exact location before commenting, but Boakes said the matter was a "red herring" because Bisley's current range contains a SSSI site.
Another group waiting on this week's decision is the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, which is about five miles from the Olympic Park in Stratford.
It was brought into the equation after the stand-off over Bisley and Woolwich.
A new shooting venue would be built on a brownfield site, providing regeneration and a post-Games legacy, the council's chief executive Rob Whiteman said.
"Barking and Dagenham is in the heart of east London, and if the Olympics are about the regeneration of east London then actually it is slightly odd that Barking and Dagenham is not already a host borough," he said.
The borough's proposal is understood to be 15 million pounds cheaper than the other options, he said, and the venue would be within easy reach of the Olympic Park with good transport links.
The London Olympic Organising Committee (locog), which is responsible for staging the Games, would not comment but issued a statement which said "Woolwich is our preferred venue."
(Source: Reuters)
