Rogge: Blair must back Olympic bid

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It is Jacques Rogge's job as International Olympic Committee president to encourage the world's most prestigious cities to bid for the Olympic Games.

But it is the enthusiasm with which the former Olympic yachtsman steers London past potential obstacles to a possible British bid for the 2012 Games that suggests the capital might have a serious chance of winning the IOC vote in 2005.

Ask him whether London would struggle to move half a million spectators around the city each day for 16 days and the Belgian surgeon is quick to talk about the city's "strong public transportation system".

Argue that spending £6 million on an Olympic bid and getting ready to spend many millions more on the Games themselves might be seen as an extravagance before an election focusing on health and education and Rogge points to the bonuses and legacy of hosting the Olympics.

But there is one prerequisite for success in the eyes of the man who coordinated the triumphant 2000 Sydney Games: Tony Blair has to back the bid 100 per cent.

"I would be very happy to have a well prepared, well-organised London bid," Rogge said. "Definitely London would be a front runner, given a good technical file. There is no doubt about that.

"(But) Government backing is a vital determining factor. If there is any feeling of reluctance on behalf of the Government, then the bid will fail. It is as simple as that."

The Government are due to decide next month whether to back a bid which already has the support of London mayor Ken Livingstone, British Olympic officials and leading Olympians such as record-breaking rower Sir Steve Redgrave.

The 2012 campaign is expected to be one of the most competitive Olympic races for years with New York taking on Europe's leading cities. Moscow has already confirmed its participation and Paris is almost certain to announce its bid in the next few months.

Madrid could also run together with a German city yet to be decided.

The biggest headaches for any host city are transport, security and accommodation. They are often much harder tasks than building the stadiums and selling the tickets. For that reason, the IOC prefer governments to underwrite the costs of the Games in case those key areas run into difficulties.

In a head-to-head battle, London's underground system would struggle to compete with the modern Parisian metro. But both capitals have to put up with streets clogged with cars. For Rogge, London would not be at a disadvantage.

"Transport is always a challenge for big cities and I don't think the challenge would be bigger for London than it would be for other big cities bidding," he said.

"We are facing the same problems in Athens in 2004. Sydney went well but you will remember I was really anxious about that. We remember Atlanta (with major problems in 1996).

"It is always going to be difficult to have Games. However, there are also ways to alleviate that with a strong public transportation system - which you have - with dedicated lanes when needed and with a good strategy."

A report published last month estimated the cost of staging the Games in east London at around £1.8 billion.

Some of those costs would be covered by money from the IOC's blue-chip sponsors (TOP sponsors), local sponsors and from television rights payments.

The ARUP report, commissioned by the Government, the Greater London Authority and the British Olympic Association, gave a worst case scenario of a shortfall of £494m.

Asked if the Games were an extravagance, Rogge said: "That is a good question. My reply is that the operational budget is always in profit. We have always had a surplus since

1984 in Los Angeles. That is because of the TOP programme and share of the TV rights that the IOC give. We give around 60 per cent of the operational budget. That will turn into $2billion (£1.3bn).

"That should not be a concern. Of course you need more than the operational budget. You also need a general infrastructure budget, which includes building new venues with roads, airport upgrading and so on. That costs more."

Rogge said cities which were well-equipped probably spent $2bn or $3bn (£1.3bn or £1.95bn) on upgrading facilities. Cities that needed better infrastructure usually spent around $4bn or $5bn (£2.6bn or £3.3bn). Sydney had to start from scratch, he said.

"Sydney had to refurbish its airport. It had to build a freeway. Sydney only had one swimming pool when it started bidding," he said.

"The issue, however, is the legacy you leave for the city. That has been clearly proven by Barcelona in 1992 and Sydney. The legacy is an acceleration in a short period of spending that the city would have to do anyhow.

"This acceleration process has a price tag. But ultimately citizens must realise that they are getting sooner what they would need in the long term. That is the good thing about the Games. It is not an extravagance. It is a bonus. It leaves a legacy to a city and a country."

Putting together the details of a Stratford/Lee Valley bid is less than half of the story, however. The real challenge is to sell the idea of bringing the Games to London to the 126 IOC members who will choose the venue in a vote in Singapore in July 2005.

British Olympic officials have already indicated that London will use its multicultural society as a characteristic in its favour.

Rogge said the success of this year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester had given Britain a boost after the muchpublicised problems with Wembley's reconstruction. He said he would welcome a London bid for two fundamental reasons.

He said: "One is the very special place of Great Britain in sports, as a cradle of sport in the 19th and 20th centuries. Secondly you're a big, strong, stable, very sophisticated country.

"You have a very strong and stable political system. We will assume you will be able to provide everything in terms of security.

"If there is the same momentum (as with the Commonwealth Games), with the same sense of reality and achievement, then you are on the right path."

The campaign to host the 2010 Winter Games, which will finish with a vote in Prague next July, is likely to have a huge influence on the 2012 race.

If Vancouver, the favourites, succeed in beating Salzburg and South Korea's Pyeong Chang, it will sink the 2012 candidature of Toronto, a potential threat to London after it ran an excellent bid for the 2008 Games last year before losing out to Beijing.

Canada would be very unlikely to be awarded two successive Games. Some believe a Vancouver victory could also make it harder for any North American city to win in 2012.

ButRogge, who took over from Juan Antonio Samaranch last year, is expecting a showdown between Europe and North America although he does not believe the emotion of last year's 11 September attacks will play a role in New York's bid.

He said: "I am not quite sure it is going to be a European battle. I think it is very much going to be a battle between Europe and the American continent, specifically the United States. I think no European city can take victory for granted.

"New York is an exciting, glittering choice. It is a city with a lot of prestige, but it would be wrong for New York to capitalise on emotion. If it bases a bid on emotion it will fail. The IOC are not led by emotion. The people of New York know that."

 

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