As Paris eases money goes on London and Madrid

With the 115 members of the IOC due to start their election on the 2012 Olympic city just after midnight, BST, the betting price on Paris (above) has continued to ease as punters give strong support to London and Madrid. We have restricted the chart to just the one contender in order to show best the sharp price movement.

The return on a winning bet on Paris has almost doubled in the past four days while the tightening of the London price continues and it’s now at 5/2. There’s also been a lot of money going on Madrid and the returned on a winning bet are half what they were on Friday. Currently the best you can get is 16/1.

One thing the Spaniards have got in their favour is that Barcelona 1992 is considered by many to have been the best games of modern times.

It’s reported that the London and Madrid bidding teams have agreed to support each other against Paris in the event of one of them being knocked out in the early rounds of voting.

Tony Blair, meanwhile, has made an impassioned speech in Singapore in favour of London to underline the support of his government to the UK bid.

There is, of course, no hard evidence on which to base anything and punters are flying blind.

Mike Smithson