Concerns and controversies at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Even if an advertiser does not mention the Olympics or use any of the listed words, any visual or audio representation of London and sports may be considered by a court to be an infringement of LOCOG's rights and subject to a fine of £20,000 or possible imprisonment.
[3] A number of individuals and businesses fell foul of the restrictions including a lingerie shop in Leicester,[4] and a Plymouth café selling Olympic torch baguettes.
[5] An exception to these rules was successfully negotiated by the restaurant chain Little Chef, who have been permitted by LOCOG to continue to sell their fried "Olympic Breakfast" because the item has carried that name on their menu since 1994.
[6] In an interview with BBC journalist Evan Davis, Lord Coe emphasised the need to protect the rights of official sponsors such as BMW and Adidas who had contributed large sums of money to the Games.
A group called London 2012: Justice for Women protested the IOC's allowance of the hijab by placing a copy of the Olympic charter into a coffin and then throwing it off Westminster Bridge, while a band played funeral music.
[45] A complaint by the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine was made about the biographies of Russian Olympic team members posted on the official London 2012 Games' website.
[47] Examples included wrestler Besik Kudukhov's birthplace in Tskhilon, South Ossetia, Boxer David Ayrapetyan born in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and weightlifter Alexandr Ivanov from Rustavi in Georgia.
[47] LOCOG also apologised for an error in the official match programme for Great Britain's first game in the men's football tournament, mistakenly describing Welsh team member Joe Allen as being English.
On 3 August 2012, the Bruneian athlete Maziah Mahusin took part in the Women's 400 metres heats and ensured that all current NOCs had at least one female participant at the Olympics.
The proposal was rejected by IOC President Jacques Rogge, who stated that his "hands were tied" by votes from 46 Arab and Muslim members admitted to the International Olympic Committee.
"[55] NBC, Nine Network, and Prime TV were criticised by their viewers for tape delaying the Olympics and making questionable editorial decisions and complicated viewing schemes.
Sebastian Coe, the Head of LOCOG, stated in a press conference on 29 July that the seats were reserved for "the Olympic family and sponsors" and that the events were otherwise "stuffed to the gunwales".
They had misunderstood the use by LOCOG of the phrase "non-ticketed" to mean that an archery qualification round at Lord's Cricket Ground was going to be open to the public for free, in a similar fashion to some other events like the road bike races or marathon.
[72] Gill-Webb later pleaded not guilty to a charge of using threatening words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress at Stratford Magistrates' Court.
[74] On 2 August, British cyclist Philip Hindes, during an interview in the mixed zone for media immediately after the race, said that he deliberately crashed in an earlier round because he did not like the start he had.
[77] On 29 July in a quarter final match in the 66 kg category, South Korean judoka Cho Jun-ho received a unanimous 3–0 judging decision that he had beaten Japanese Ebinuma Masashi.
The matches were between China's Wang Xiaoli / Yu Yang and South Korea's Jung Kyung-eun / Kim Ha-na in Group A and South Korea's Ha Jung-eun / Kim Min-jung versus Indonesia's Meiliana Jauhari / Greysia Polii in Group C. After errors began occurring during routine shots in both matches, including shots going long and serves hitting the net, the crowd reacted badly,[80][81] and the match between Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli of China and Jung Kyung and Kim Ha Na of South Korea featured no rallies of more than four shots.
[82] In the second game, a tournament referee initially issued a black card to disqualify the players but, after the team's coaches argued, this was rescinded; play was allowed to continue while he monitored proceedings.
"[83] On 1 August 2012, following the review, all eight players were ejected from the tournament by the Badminton World Federation, after being found guilty of "not using best efforts" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport".
[93] Referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov was dismissed from the games after the men's 56 kg Round of 16 bout between Japan's Satoshi Shimizu and Azerbaijan's Magomed Abdulhamidov.
[96] German referee Frank Scharmach was suspended for five days after disqualifying Iran's Ali Mazaheri for excessive holding during his bout with Cuba's José Larduet.
[98][99] During the semi-final match between Canada and the United States, a time-wasting call was made against the Canadian goalkeeper, Erin McLeod, when she held the ball longer than the allowed six seconds.
[103][104][105] Five days after setting a new world record in the 100 m breaststroke final en route to a gold medal, South African Cameron van der Burgh said that he had used illegal "dolphin kicks" while underwater after the start and turns.
It was suggested he deliberately stopped running in order to save himself for the 1500 m race the following day, where he was fancied as a medal winner,[109] and that the Algerian officials had earlier failed in their attempts to withdraw him in time from the 800m contest.
Gian Gilli, the director of Swiss Olympic Committee, said that the tweet "discriminated, insulted and violated the dignity of the South Korean football team and people".
[112] Australian swimmers Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk were originally to be sent home once the swimming programme of the Games had concluded after posting a photo on Facebook showing them posing with guns that was deemed to bring the sport into disrepute.
[116] Monk had previously attracted controversy when he admitted to lying to police when he was questioned about the cause of an accident during a training session,[117][118] while D'Arcy had been removed from the Australian team for the Beijing Olympics after being charged with assault.
FIFA also imposed a warning on the Korea Football Association and reminded it of its obligation to properly instruct its players on all the pertinent rules and applicable regulations before the start of any competition, in order to avoid such incident in the future.
[134] Seven Cameroonian athletes went missing while participating in the Olympics,[135] including the reserve goalkeeper Drusille Ngako, swimmer Paul Ekane Edingue and boxers Thomas Essomba, Christian Donfack Adjoufack, Abdon Mewoli, Blaise Yepmou Mendouo and Serge Ambomo.
[141][142][143] French world champion cyclist Grégory Baugé demanded that the British reveal their secret, but French omnium specialist Bryan Coquard supported the British, believing the secret is the best equipment being revealed at the last moment, also stating: "[T]he Australians didn't race cohesively..."[144] When asked if the "high-tech warfare" between large national teams will put other countries at a disadvantage Chris Boardman replied, "Well, I'd like to think so, we haven't done our job if they're not.
