BEIJING (Reuters) - Income derived from China's Olympic marketing and sponsorship program will cover the cost of holding the Beijing Games, a Chinese Olympic official said on Wednesday.
"We can say that the income attained through marketing development will completely cover the organizing and operating costs of the Olympic Games," Yuan Bin, marketing director for the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), told reporters.
Yuan, however, refused to disclose how much revenue Beijing had raised through sponsors, saying the figure was confidential.
Beijing has put the cost of running the Games at $2.1 billion (1.08 billion pounds), with the IOC contributing about half the cost.
Beijing's three-tiered sponsorship program is the most comprehensive in the history of the Games, according to BOCOG, and its revenues should more than cover the rest, analysts have said.
Organizers and sponsors have been tight-lipped about revenue from the program, but German sports shoe-maker Adidas will pay $100 million to use the Olympic logo in China, as one of 11 "China partners" of the Beijing Games.
Yuan said pressure over Darfur and other causes championed by rights groups, including China's record on human rights and media freedom, had not affected organizers' sponsorship program.
Rights groups, including Dream for Darfur, a U.S.-based advocacy group, have called on sponsors to do more to pressure China over its trade and investment in Sudan.
Hollywood director Steven Spielberg last week withdrew as an artistic adviser for the Beijing Games, citing Darfur and saying his conscience would not allow him to continue.
"It is wrong to tie politics to the Olympic Games," Yuan said. "To date, although under pressure, not a single one of our sponsors has withdrawn their support for the Beijing Games."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
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