First it was 'Beckham backs the bid', then 'Beckham to motivate the England Squad'. Now it may be 'Beckham returns to East End roots'. West Ham have been talking to 'his people' in an attempt to rope in the Leytonstone born celeb in its bid to get its hands on the 2012 Olympic Stadium. Still, the lad hasn't agreed yet. Maybe West Ham is a bit of a comedown for Brand Beckham after the various excitements of the World Cup.

Jacques Rogge faces both ways over BP's sponsorship of the 2012 Olympics. On the one hand it is reported that the Olympic governing body is content to allow BP to sponsor the London Games provided the firm takes proper "corrective measures" to alleviate the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Kevin Blowe on the demise of the Food Standards Agency and the announcement that

Despite the constant flow of reports from China of human rights abuses, evictions, beatings, arrests and the imprisonment of protestors in the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games Britain’s political and sports elites continue to fawn over the Beijing Olympics. Whereas the United States and the EU, along with human rights organisations, are reported to be protesting at the arrest of a prominent human rights activist, Hu Jia, the Chinese Xinhua Agency (see below) is delighted to be able to report the enthusiastic support offered by the likes of Coe, Brown and Livingstone.

If we don't engage young people..then frankly the project is unsustainable

AFTER they leave the arena, life is a trip back down for most sportsmen. The greater the peaks of achievement, the more humdrum the future.