The Secretary-General of the Australian Olympic Committee, Craig Phillips has described as “extremely generous” an offer of financial assistance for visiting Olympic teams from the organising committee of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

London 2012 has announced visiting Olympic teams will be offered extra cash to help them use pre-Games training camps in Britain.

All 203 national Olympic committees and the 161 national Paralympic committees will be able to apply for financial grants of up to £26,000 ($64,000), a 2012 statement said.

‘The financial assistance will be particularly helpful to some of our smaller sports and it is likely the AOC will direct it to those federations who aren’t so well off” Phillips said.

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said the total of £9 million ($22 million) in grants follows through on the pledge made to visiting teams during the bid process.

"We have always been serious when we said that we wanted the London 2012 Games to be the sporting experience of a lifetime for all competing athletes," said Coe.

"Our grant plan is one example, but an important one, of how we plan to honour that pledge and place the welfare of athletes at the very heart of planning for the Games.

"That is our commitment to the world's athletes and we won't let them or their countries down."

The grants, which will come out of the London organising committee's two £2 billion ($5 billion) budget, will only be available for teams using training facilities in Britain.

The locations of the pre-Games training camps will be announced in 2008, with organisers keen to have them spread around the country.

"For many visiting athletes, the regional training camps will provide the first experience of the people, places and cultures of the UK as they prepare for 2012 Games," said Coe.

"This represents a very special opportunity for us all to reach out and welcome the world's athletes to the UK.

"The UK's cultural diversity, passion for sport and range of regional sporting facilities will provide an ideal pre-Games environment for the world's best athletes."

It is hoped the offer of grants will particularly help poorer nations prepare for the Games.

"The grants will help athletes from smaller nations who would not otherwise have the financial resources to use pre-Games training camps. This will enhance the Games experience for athletes from all nations," said Debbie Jevans, director of sport for the 2012 organising committee.

AOC