London 2012: Eriksson would have picked David Beckham - BBC News
Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson is surprised David Beckham has been left out of Team GB at this summer's Olympics.
Beckham, 37, revealed that he had been left out of the 18-man squad, with Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards chosen as the over-age players.
"I would have picked him, put him on the bench at the very least," said Eriksson.
"He is an icon, he should be involved in the Olympic Games in some way."
Beckham who currently plays in the MLS with LA Galaxy, was watched twice by Team GB boss Stuart Pearce, who is set to name his final squad next week.
"I hope he will be involved in some way in the Olympic Games, it's important," added Eriksson who was speaking to the BBC Radio 5 live programme Sportsweek.
Giggs excited by Olympics
"It is the Olympic Games, it is Great Britain, it is England, it is London."
Former Manchester United team-mate Ryan Giggs, who is set to feature in the London 2012 football squad, has also admitted he is disappointed that Beckham will not be there with him.
"As a former team-mate and as a friend of David's I am immensely disappointed for him, but he will take it on his chin and carry on with his career. It's just one of those things that wasn't meant to be.
"It's Stuart Pearce's job to pick a team that he thinks can win. That's what he's done - unfortunately David's not in that 18. Like I said, as a friend I wish he was, but I'm sure the lads who are picked will go out and do the best they can."
London borough pension funds "small, not beautiful" - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - London's borough councils need political impetus to reform an illogical pension fund system for their employees which is squandering money in administrative and management costs, the head of one of the capital's largest funds told Reuters.
The idea of pooling London's 34 separate local authority pension schemes to create a single fund with around 30 billion pounds ($47 billion) in assets was pitched to council leaders three months ago as a means of shaving some of the 30 million pounds annual administrative costs.
On Monday a debate will be held by British think-tank Demos between several council leaders and academics on the benefits and drawbacks of such a merger.
"Some people believe small is beautiful, others believe in economies of scale," said Mike Taylor, chief executive of the London Pensions Fund Authority, which manages over 4 billion pounds and is one of the main proponents of the plan.
"We believe that 50 years after the London boroughs were set up it's time to review the arrangements, particularly for the pension funds which seem one of the more illogical arrangements to have 34 funds doing the same thing in London."
The initiative comes at a time when pensions funds around the world are having to adjust to major shifts in demographics as people live longer as well as dwindling asset returns as markets whipsaw in thrall to the current financial and economic crises.
But any change is likely to take some years as well as much effort. Taylor says that at a time of major change in public sector pensions as the recommendations of a government-sponsored review are implemented, he would look at a target date of 2016.
Before a plan can even properly be conceived political consensus needs to be reached by the leaders of London's councils and then a proper cost benefit analysis can be commissioned, says Taylor.
He said leaders are due to get together for a formal summit in September or October to discuss the proposals further but anecdotally they have not yet been endorsed by a majority.
Opponents argue that autonomy over investment decisions for each individual pot of money might be taken away. But Taylor suggests that more needs to be done to persuade local leaders that within a pooled structure there could be several investment options.
He also says that in addition to the administrative and management costs that could be saved with a larger pool of assets, the option of an in-house manager would also be possible enabling greater investment choice and further synergies.
Proponents have also suggested that a pooled pension fund could then invest around 7.5 percent of its assets or around 2 billion pounds into infrastructure funds, which would be a welcome boost to government efforts to raise money for UK infrastructure projects.
The Pensions Protection Fund (PPF), the national lifeboat for struggling pension funds, and the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) is hoping to raise 2 billion pounds from 10-12 pension schemes to launch a government-backed infrastructure fund in January 2013.
This has also raised concerns that any pledge towards infrastructure projects might be politically motivated given the UK government's drive to attract funds into the sector.
"Infrastructure is the carrot to combine the fund," said Taylor.
"There are many opportunities for local infrastructure projects provided the investment case remains paramount."
($1=0.6429 pounds)
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
London Olympics 2012: Michael Phelps on course to repeat eight medal run at London Games - Daily Telegraph
After he received his medals, the sell-out crowd of more than 13,000 sang "Happy Birthday" to Phelps who, on the assumption that he finishes in the first two of the 200m butterfly and gets picked for the three relays will again be chasing eight gold medals at the London Olympics.
Meanwhile Lochte was fairly upbeat, if tired. "The best thing about swimming is racing and stepping up against the world's best but tonight was probably the most pain I've endured in a swimming competition," he said.
Elsewhere Jessica Hardy, who missed the Beijing Games while serving a drug test, won the women's 100 freestyle in 53.96 secs with emerging star Missy Franklin in second place.
Rebecca Soni secured a second individual race in London with a comfortable win in the 200 breaststroke. She was slow off the blocks but surged to the lead on the second lap and steadily pulled away, winning in 2:21.13, the fastest time in the world this year.
"I'm always a little nervous to push it too soon. I felt great the first 100, nice and long," said Soni, who will be looking to defend her 200 Olympic title. "I know I've trained the hardest I can so if I can hopefully bring home a gold, that would be amazing. If I can get back to my best time, that would also be great. I'm just going to have fun with it."
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