Olympic committee sets lawyers on Telstra

The Australian Olympic Committee has launched legal action against Telstra for "misleading" advertising before the Rio games.

The committee is fuming after Telstra launched an "I go to Rio" marketing campaign despite severing sponsorship ties with the AOC last year.

It considers the telco's campaign as a "clear attempt to deceive Australians".

"Despite repeated attempts for co-operation, today the AOC has been left with no choice but to seek appropriate legal measures in the Federal Court," the committee said in a statement on Friday.

"The AOC is grateful for the support of its true, valued partners and defends its right to protect them."

Telstra says the campaign stems from its commercial partnership with the Seven Network, and it has taken steps to address the Olympic committee's concerns.

"Our current advertising simply promotes that commercial arrangement and that Telstra customers get free access to premium content through the Seven app," a spokesman said.

"The AOC raised concerns with us and so we updated our advertising to include an explicit statement that Telstra is not an official sponsor of the Olympic Games, any Olympic committees or teams."