Moscow, Mar 11: Russian natural gas giant Gazprom has rejected a British media report saying the company may become an official sponsor of the 2012 London Olympics.

''This is not true, Gazprom will not be one of the sponsors,'' company spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told RIA Novosti yesterday.The Sunday Times published an article on March 9 saying the chairman of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) marketing commission was expected to hold a second meeting with Gazprom executives later this month on the company becoming one of the 12 main sponsors of the event.

According to the paper, the IOC has so far signed sponsorship deals with nine multinationals, including Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Visa, and aims to raise about one billion dollars.

UNI