Mitt Romney, the U.S. Republican presidential nominee, has questioned Britain's preparedness to host the London 2012 Olympics and asked whether the country is genuinely willing to "celebrate" the Games, The Telegraph reports.

Romney, who was chief executive of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002, spoke on the first day of a visit to Britain.

He will meet the British political leadership in London on Thursday, July 26, including David Cameron, the Prime Minister, and Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister. Mr Romney is then expected to attend the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.

But he told U.S. television there were "disconcerting" signs about Britain's readiness. "It's hard to know just how well it will turn out," he said. "There are a few things that were disconcerting: the stories about the private security firm not having enough people, supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging."

Asked at a press conference about the mix up between Korean flags at an Olympics women’s football match in Glasgow on Wednesday night, he said it was "impossible for mistakes not to occur", adding that "of course there will be errors from time to time".