IOC back to business with first 2011 meeting

The International Olympic Committee's Executive Board met Jan. 13 at the five-ring headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland -- 11 months after the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and one year before the 2013 Youth Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria.

Executive Board doesn't release minutes. No information was released on whether VANOC was discussed behind closed doors. The Vancouver 2010 final report will be delivered to the 123rd IOC session July 1-9 at Durban, South Africa. That is where the host of the 2018 Winter Games will be chosen from among either Annecy, France, Munich, Germany or PyeongChang, South Korea. Only three bids were received. By comparison, there were eight candidates for the 2010 Games.

Executive Board added to the minimum requirements for cities to bid on the Games. The prospective host national Olympic committee must be compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency and accept the jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration in Sport to settle disputes.

"Without that there is no candidature," Rogge said.

Executive Board also decided there could be "a waiver for the rule of the dates of the Games because of climactic and geographic issues," Rogge said.

But would the IOC move the 2022 Winter Olympics if FIFA decides to hold the 2022 Qatar World Cup in January?

"We have not had contacts with FIFA for the very good reason this is a very hypothetical discussion, FIFA has not yet taken the decision in principle to shift to winter months.

"The situation for the IOC is very clear: the IOC would organize the Winter Games in the winter obviously. The bracket we're having is roughly, last week of January and the month of February. There is no way you can organize Winter Games in December or in March.

"For us it's clear that is the bracket for the games. It would be sensible once a decision would be envisioned by FIFA, to sit around the table to see it is not harmful for either of the two partners.

"As of today we think it is far too premature."

Otherwise, how are IOC and FIFA relations after FIFA president Sepp Blatter accused the IOC of being a non-transparent organization that handles its finances like a "housewife"?

"The incident that arose is closed, it is the past, I don't think about it and I'm very glad the relationship is very good," Rogge said.

Rogge admitted the IOC is probing allegations of corruption against Issa Hayatou, who is an IOC member and FIFA vice-president. Andrew Jennings reported that Hayatou was among those involved in the ISL bribery scandal in the 1990s during the FIFA's Dirty Secrets documentary aired by Panorama in December 2010:

"We have referred this to the Ethics Commission of the IOC and the Ethics Commission is collecting information, they are discussing with the BBC. I believe that the BBC, under the condition that the identity of the sources would be preserved, would be willing to give information, and we need that information."

That Ethics Commission saw Spanish ambassador Jose Luis Dicenta Ballester replace former United Nations secretary general Javier Perez de Cuellar.

If Tottenham Hotspur FC wins the bid to take over the London Olympic stadium after the 2012 Games, it might demolish and rebuild on the same site. Rogge said "this is not our business" because it is a matter for LOCOG, the Olympic Park Legacy Society and U.K. Athletics.

"If a solution could be found for the track, we would be happy," he said. " Don't expect the IOC to intervene forcefully anyway in this issue where we are not responsible."

Rogge said discussions with the United States Olympic Committee over revenue sharing are accelerating. A truce was announced at the 2009 SportAccord convention in Denver. Smaller NOCs want a bigger piece of the revenue pie, but the USOC argues that American broadcasters and sponsors are the biggest funders of the IOC.

Rogge said "pretty soon" the IOC would meet with American broadcast companies about bidding for rights to air the Games of 2014 and beyond.

"After that meeting then there will be a decision how we are going to tender out , what the format and specifications are going to be," Rogge said.

The IOC normally sells packages in pairs, but U.S. companies want to buy four at a time if the price is right. NBC is the incumbent. It paid $2.2 billion for Vancouver 2010 and London 2012.

The IOC's finances are "solid" with reserves of US$550 million.
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