Good to see that our local government officials are keen to take advantage of the networking and promotional opportunities this summer’s Olympic games have to offer.

While ministers and MPs ponder the rights and wrongs of attending the games at all, local politicians are well aware of the importance of being seen in Beijing.
And then there’s the Heineken Holland House or mobile beer tent – sorry, entertainment centre – which is a ‘home from home’ for Dutch athletes and supporters. According to the Telegraaf, Holland House is also planning four theme evenings which ‘lots of civil servants’ will attend.
Quite what these themes will be, the paper did not say but they are obviously essential.
The Netherlands is considering a bid to host the 2028 Olympics so officials are simply making sure no-one can accuse them of not being properly prepared.
Particularly the good folks of Eindhoven. Without tickets to watch local hero Pieter van den Hoogenband defend his titles, officials will instead be spending time at the beach volleyball competition. Extremely useful for networking indeed.
Sidelines is looking forward to 20 years in the future when Amsterdam and Flevoland co-host the Olympics with two bikini-clad Eindhoven girls tipped to take gold in the beach event.