London 2012 Olympics is all set to kick off with Team GB women’s football side taking on New Zealand at Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium at 16:00 BST today. The official opening ceremony for the Games is on Friday.
Designated Games Lanes stretching 30 miles along with newly painted Olympic lanes in London began operating today. Hold-ups has become a common scenario as the morning rush peaked with daily motorists stuck in confusion with the new lanes.
To add to the misery of the visitors, a planned strike by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union is scheduled on Thursday. However, the government assured immigration at the Heathrow will still be fully staffed to get people through in the shortest possible time. The dedicated Games Lanes are also expected to relieve the visitors flowing into London.
The government is trying to get a court injunction to stop the strike, especially aimed at staff of the immigration and passport counters at all the airports including Heathrow. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt will join Welsh secretary Cheryl Gillan in Cardiff for the first event of the London 2012 Games.
Mr. Hunt added, “As of this morning, we need 500 people to maintain a full immigration desk policy at Heathrow - which means we can get people through in the shortest possible time - and we have 584 shifts now confirmed for Thursday despite the strike.â€
Team GB coach Hope Powell is confident and captain Casey Stoney is excited, “We could raise the profile of women’s football. Hopefully we can put on a good show - but we are just focused on getting the job done.”
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