Reedie predicts South African Olympic bid 07/07/2010 |
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International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Sir Craig Reedie has become the latest senior figure to predict that South Africa will make a bid for the 2020 Olympics.
Reedie believes the successful staging of the football World Cup, as well as the IOC’s decision to award the 2016 Olympics to South America (Rio) for the first time, would be "natural encouragement'' for South Africa.
"The two great sporting events in the world are the Olympic Games and the World Cup,'' said Reedie, who was chairman of the British Olympic Association when plans for London's bid to host the 2012 Games were drawn up.
"I would not be surprised at all if a bid came from the South African Olympic Committee for a future Games. They would obviously have to decide where of all of its cities would be best or appropriate to bid.''
Reedie was knighted after London's successful bid to host the Olympics and in October last year became the first Briton to be elected on to the IOC's executive board since 1961.
The Olympics have never been held in Africa and South Africa's president Jacob Zuma believes that staging this year's World Cup may have helped its chances.
IOC president Jacques Rogge is set to travel to Johannesburg to attend the World Cup Final at Soccer City this week.
Reedie added: "The quality of the bids is becoming very high and I think that the decision to move the Games to the south of the equator [with Rio 2016] would be a natural encouragement to South Africa.
"One of the great joys of being in the IOC is that we get a range of wonderful cities applying to host the Olympics.”
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