Rogge: Games are in Conservation Mode

IOC President Jacques Rogge (left), chatting with EOC President Patrick Hickey, today cautioned delegates that fiscal responsibilityis needed for profitable Games to continue. (MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images)IOC President Jacques Rogge warns that the size, complexity and cost of future Olympics will have to be carefully managed in order to deliver profitable Games.

“The IOC, IFs and national Olympic committees must realize that the Games cannot yield a profit that will be redistributed if we do not make sure that they do not become too sophisticated, too big and too costly,” he said Friday.

Speaking at the European Olympic Committees general assembly in Istanbul, Turkey, Rogge said: “Every demand to add more sports events on the program - more sports, more athletes, more coaches or higher service levels – adds to the difficulty of staging good Games.”

“The Games are today not any more in a growth mode. They are in a conservation mode,” he warned, adding that the limits of 28 sports and 10,500 athletes should be maintained.

Commenting on the impact of the financial crisis, Rogge announced that the IOC’s finances were solid, but he said that future contracts with broadcasters and sponsors were reliant on “a good delivery of the Games.”

“This is what I would call virtual money. If there are no good Games, there will be less money,” Rogge added.

EOC President Patrick Hickey advised delegates that good governance was even more important given the current global financial problems.(ATR/M.Bisson)Despite reports confirming the next three Olympic hosts have each been hit by the economic downturn, Rogge barely touched on the impacts being felt in preparations for Vancouver 2010, London 2012 and Sochi 2014, insisting that all were progressing well.

Representatives from the three organizing committees each updated the congress Friday – Andreja McQuarrie, director of NOC/NPC services for Vancouver; London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe; and Sochi 2014 President and CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko.

Rogge said the IOC had invested conservatively and there were “no toxic” products, saying that this “prudent investment policy” allowed it to increase the revenue share from the Beijing Games among international federations and NOCs. The Olympic Solidarity fund for the next quadrennial is set at $311 million – a rise of 27 percent on Athens 2004.

He indicated that the IOC was on target to meet its $1 billion target from its TOP sponsor program, confirming what Gerhard Heiberg, head of the IOC marketing commission, said earlier this week. Nine sponsors are on board for the 2008-2012 period.

Rogge said discussions were being held to secure another sponsor. “I cannot assume that there will be a 10th, but we’re pleased with the amount of money we’ve already achieved,” he said.

EOC President Patrick Hickey also made reference to the economic crisis in his speech to delegates, saying that good governance and the “highest ethical standards” among the 49 members of the continental association were even more important with the “mayhem in the financial markets.”

“Transparency and good governance are the hallmarks of all of our activities, and it is vital that they should continue to be so,” he said, adding that achieving new standards would simplify the challenges of NOCs “and greatly raise the standing of the Olympic Movement throughout Europe.”

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul confirmed earlier today that his country would bid for the 2020 Olympics. (ATR/M. Bisson)Earlier in the day, Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul spoke to delegates and confirmed that his country would mount a bid for the 2020 Olympics.

He said Istanbul’s previous Olympic bid campaigns were “a clear example of our determination and our belief in the Olympic ideals.”

“We will continue in our efforts to bid for the Olympics. Turkey is preparing for bidding in 2020. You can be sure we will mobilize all our resources to host the Olympics in Istanbul,” he said.

With reporting from Mark Bisson in Istanbul.

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