LONDON (AP) – IOC executives returned to London on Wednesday amid reports the cost of preparing for the 2012 Games has tripled to $19.5 billion.

Denis Oswald, head of the IOC’s coordination commission for the London Games, and Gilbert Felli, the IOC’s executive director for the Olympics, arrived for a regularly scheduled two-day review meeting, including budget updates.

Felli has said he would ask for a document giving a complete breakdown of the costs, warning that public wrangling was hurting the image of the games.

“We like to have clarity,” Felli said. “It should be transparent. People need to understand. At the end of the day, what is important is the cost of what was supposed to be delivered in the bid remains the same.”

The International Olympic Committee’s entire coordination commission next visits June 12-14.

The London Evening Standard newspaper reported Wednesday that Olympic costs had soared to $19.5 billion. The original estimate in the bid book was about $5.9 billion, including both public and private funding.

According to London organizers, the current cost estimate is about $9.8 billion. That doesn’t include costs for contingency, security and a possible Value Added Tax. It’s not yet clear what those figures will be.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone dismissed the reported $19.5 billion figure.

“Our intention is to contain it at $9.9 billion,” Livingstone said. “There is an ongoing discussion about the cost overruns and VAT (value added tax).”

Long-term redevelopment of a 500-acre site in Stratford in east London is at the heart of the Olympic project. The costs of construction, regeneration, security and contingency funds – not the privately financed operational games’ budget – have led to the soaring bill.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday the Olympic Delivery Authority would publish its budget “in the next few weeks.”

“Obviously it’s important that we keep the costs properly under control but I think the Olympics will do an immense amount for London, for the whole of the country,” Blair told parliament. “It will be a huge investment for the future of this country, it will be a wonderful showcase.”

Five-time Olympic rowing gold medalist Steven Redgrave, who is helping British athletes prepare for the London Games, finds the budget delays frustrating.

“If you were building a house or an extension, you would have a budget to spend,” he said. “I think the British public would prefer that.”

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