BP's 2012 London Olympics sponsorship at stake over oil leak in Gulf of Mexico

London, July 18 (ANI): British Petroleum's sponsorship of the 2012 London Olympics could be at risk if the oil giant is found guilty of negligence in the Gulf of Mexico leak.

According to Sky News, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge has said that the issue had been discussed with the London organisers "at length".

The Olympic governing body is content to allow BP to sponsor the London Games provided the firm takes proper "corrective measures" to alleviate the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"If a company would have been negligent, that's another issue," Rogge said.

The oil giant has sponsored both the London Olympics and the US Olympic Committee. It has pumped around 50mn pounds into the estimated 2bn pounds budget for the 2012 Games as a cultural partner.

In June, the US attorney general Eric Holder opened a criminal and civil investigation into possible negligence or failure to discharge public obligations in BP's oil spill.

"We will closely examine the actions of those involved in the spill. If we find evidence of illegal behaviour, we will be extremely forceful in our response," Holder said then.

However, as of now, the authorities have not discovered any evidence about negligence by BP or other companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion that led to the disaster. (ANI)