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Six cities intend to bid for 2016 Summer Olympics
09/07/2007 |
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International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge identified six cities that have formally told the governing body they are interested in bidding for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The six are Chicago; Rio de Janeiro; Doha, Qatar; Tokyo; Baku, Azerbaijan; and Madrid.
Olympic Games director Gilbert Felli said not all six have confirmed they will bid. Some have indicated their serious interest by requesting more details about the process.
Chicago, chosen U.S. candidate in April by the U.S. Olympic Committee, Tokyo and Madrid already have active bid committees.
The deadline for bid applications is Sept. 13. The United States Olympic Committee will file Chicago's application later this summer.
Felli said he expected "two or three more" cities to join the six.
Rogge's statement about 2016 bidders followed the end of the IOC's annual meeting, at which Sochi, Russia, was selected host city of the 2014 Olympic Games.
It has been generally acknowledged that Russian President Vladimir Putin's presence and persuasion during a 36-hour stay in Guatemala were critical to Sochi's four-vote victory (51-47) over Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Given that former British prime minister Tony Blair had a similar effect on London's winning the 2012 Summer Games, questions have been raised about allowing heads of state to continue doing high-level lobbying when the members meet to vote for host cities in the future.
The head of state from all three 2014 finalists spent time in Guatemala.
"We review all the bidding process with all the candidate cities, and this [the presence of heads of state] is something we will review," Rogge said. "It can have advantages and disadvantages."
The annual meeting was a triumph for Rogge, a Belgian who has been president since 2001. This is the first time the members have fallen in line behind his agenda.
That was most evident when they gave unanimous approval to establishing the Youth Olympic Games, Rogge's pet project, and in Saturday's first-ballot re-election of Norway's Gerhard Heiberg to the 15-member executive board.
"There was a feeling in the membership to give more strength to president Rogge by endorsing his candidate, and this was a very loud message of exactly that," said Bob Ctvrtlik, USOC vice-president for international relations.
Anita DeFrantz, the U.S. candidate, was fourth with only six of 92 votes. Marketing commission chair Heiberg had 49; Spain's Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., son of the former IOC president, 22; and Algeria's Mustapha Larfaoui, head of the international aquatics federation, 15.
Although he could not get his son elected, Samaranch Sr., who once ruled the IOC by fiat, had better luck working behind-the-scenes for Sochi.
DeFrantz talked with Rogge immediately after a showing so poor she told the IOC members she was "stunned." What she took from the discussion with Rogge was a feeling the vote reflected less on her than on the United States.
"We unfortunately are still in the least-favored nation status," she said.
Rogge seemed taken aback when asked about it at a press conference later Saturday.
"I disagree with what my dear colleague is saying," Rogge said. "I respect her very much, but I don't share that view."
Neither did Ctvrtlik, among those actively working to rebuild U.S. esteem in the Olympic movement.
"Our international efforts are effective and welcomed," he said.
Those efforts probably have been undermined by an incident at the Pan American Games in Brazil.
The incident involved the message, "Welcome to the Congo!" written in red ink on a whiteboard at the USOC office in the main media center in Rio de Janeiro, where the Pan Am Games open Friday. A picture of the message, with USOC staffer Kevin Neuendorf standing in front of it, appeared Saturday in the Brazilian newspaper, O Globo.
The USOC immediately began full damage control. It issued a statement of "deep apology" to the people of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro for "regrettable actions" and sent apologies in person to the mayor of Rio and senior officials in the Brazilian Olympic Committee, the Pan Am Games organizing committee and the Pan American Sports Organization.
Although it was unclear who wrote the offensive message, the USOC sent home Neuendorf, saying it was unacceptable not only to have written the message but to have left it on the board (courtesy-Los Angeles Times).
(Source: Qatarolympics.org)
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