The legal Olympics kicks off with the Sports & Media group advising Paddy Power on victory over Locog

25 July 2012

The Charles Russell Sports & Media group have helped force the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) into a U-turn on their stance against a Paddy Power marketing campaign. The Irish bookmakers had erected posters around London proudly boasting of their sponsorship of the largest athletics event in London this year (London, France that is). Locog responded by instructing outdoor advertising company JC Decaux to remove the posters.

Paddy Power and the Charles Russell team went on the offensive and threatened legal action against Locog on the basis that the campaign was very carefully crafted (with Charles Russell's assistance) not to breach the relevant legislation. The team was led by Mary Bagnall and Ian Lynam, with Amy Toms and Karen Morean helping in the preparation of court documents for an emergency hearing. At the 11th hour, with the application finalised and Justin Reid about to set off to court, Locog called to concede that the campaign was not in breach and could continue. Cue a sigh of relief from the athletes of London, France.

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