Open race

Rogge says 2012 bid cities may be spared cutoff

LONDON (AP) -- The IOC may retain all nine cities bidding for the 2012 Olympics rather than cut the field to a short list of finalists, IOC president Jacques Rogge said Monday.

With a marquee lineup featuring New York, Paris, London, Moscow and Madrid, Rogge said the IOC may find it impossible to eliminate any candidates before the vote in 2005.

"The cut will be very minimal," he said. "Potentially we could have all nine cities or six or seven. We might well end up with no candidate cities eliminated at the cut."

Rogge spoke at a news conference in London after meeting with British Prime Minster Tony Blair to discuss the city's 2012 bid. After months of indecision and political debate, Blair's cabinet endorsed the candidacy in May.

"The prime minister gave a strong commitment of support from the government," Rogge said. "He was interested in knowing the IOC's list of priorities. He's keenly interested in supporting the best prepared bid. I found a very strong determination there."

Other 2012 candidates are Leipzig, Germany; Istanbul, Turkey; Havana, Cuba, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The lineup was completed Monday when Brazil's Olympic committee chose Rio as its entry over Sao Paulo.

Rogge has described the list of candidates as the strongest Olympic bidding field in history.

In the past several Olympic bid contests, both for summer and winter games, the IOC has used a cutoff process to reduce the number of candidates.

For the 2010 Winter Games, awarded last week to Vancouver, the field was slashed from eight to four about 10 months before the vote. One of the cities later dropped out, leaving three for the final vote.

In the race for the 2008 Summer Games, the IOC selected five finalists from an original field of 10 cities.

The IOC executive board is scheduled to meet in May 2004 to decide on any short list. The host city will be selected by the full IOC assembly at its session in Singapore on July 6, 2005.

Keeping all cities in the race would make for a crowded meeting in Singapore. With each city allotted an hour to make final presentations, the process could take two or three days and allow for overnight lobbying.

Rogge said he had an "excellent" meeting at 10 Downing St. with Blair. Also attending was Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, London Mayor Ken Livingtone and Barbara Cassani, the American businesswoman heading the London bid.

At the news conference, Rogge disputed the theory that IOC decisions on host cities are driven by geographical rotation.

Many members said giving the 2010 games to Vancouver bolsters Europe's chances for 2012 because of a reluctance to give back-to-back Olympics to North America.

"It's like the monster of Loch Ness," Rogge said. "Everybody is talking about it and looking but nobody's ever seen it."

Geopolitics only comes into play when bids are equal in quality, he said.

"If you are the best, you will win," Rogge said. "My message and advice to bid cities is not to focus on the continental issue. It's not important. What's important is the technical quality."

Rogge said one of London's assets is its cultural diversity as a cosmopolitan city. "That was one of the trump cards of Vancouver," he said. " London could play that card."

Rogge ruled out the reintroduction of visits to bid cities by IOC members. The trips were banned after the Salt Lake City scandal.

"Visits will not come back," he said. "They are a waste of time and money."

Rogge also reiterated that soccer star David Beckham would be of no benefit as a celebrity promoter of London's bid.

"David Beckham will not add one single vote," he said. "We are not impressed by sports stars. We meet them every day."

Rogge also advised the British media to lay off Denise Lewis, the Olympic heptathlon champion. She has been harshly criticized for hiring Ekkart Arbeit, a coach linked to the state-sponsored doping program in former East Germany.

"It's about time to let her train and compete," Rogge said. "She should not be harassed any longer with the issue we have been debating for the last three weeks."

 

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