Organisers of the 2012 Olympics in London are set to scrap plans for a new temporary venue to host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics as a cost-cutting measure.

Instead, the sports will be asked to move to the existing Wembley arena, sparing London the cost of building then knocking down a venue that would have been much closer to the main Olympic village.

The proposal, which the respective sports will have to agree to, has been endorsed by Britain's Olympics minister, Tessa Jowell, and London mayor Boris Johnson and has the backing, in principle, of Sebastian Coe, the chairman of London 2012.

The International Olympic Committee warned London last week that they had to quickly end uncertainty over the venue for the two sports.

AFP