Rogge Urges 2020 Olympics Bid from South Africa

(ATR) IOC President Jacques Rogge tells Around the Rings that South Africa's successful staging of the World Cup should encourage a bid for the 2020 Olympics.

"The whole tournament was a great success. They did a very good job," Rogge told ATR in Johannesburg.

"We would be delighted to receive a strong bid coming from Africa in general but from South Africa in particular.

"They already made a good bid with Cape Town in 1997 when they came a commendable third behind Athens and Rome. But they have the potential there's no doubt about that."

Rogge's comments followed his address Monday to more than 60 of South Africa's sports federations gathered at a luncheon at Olympic House in the suburb of Melrose.

Last night he was a guest of FIFA president Sepp Blatter at the World Cup final at Soccer City.

"You have made South Africa proud," he told the 120 guests, who included IOC vice president Thomas Bach and IOC members Sam Ramsamy of South Africa and John Coates of Austrailia.

He claimed the World Cup had silenced the doomsayers who had doubted the nation's capacity to stage the tournament in the years building up to the event. FIFA president Sepp Blatter last week threw his weight behind a South African bid for the 2020 Olympics.

"You proved that you are able to do it," Rogge said, noting that the World Cup was another high point in a string of major international events hosted by the Rainbow Nation that included the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee president Gideon Sam and chief executive Tubby Reddy also addressed the audience, telling the sports leaders that they were investigating the possibility of bidding for the 2020 Olympics. Deputy sports minister Gert Oosthuizen was also present.

Rogge told ATR: "Whether it's their priority they have to see for themselves. It's going to be a discussion between the sports movement and government to see that."

"To have Games in the future in Africa will definitely be nice for the Olympic Movement and sport in general. Whether that will materialize will depend a) on bidding and b) if the bids are strong enough to be rated better than the other bids."

He said developments for the World Cup could help serve the Olympics, pointing to the upgrades of roads, airports, telecommunications, venues, the existence of a good organizing committee and good volunteer workforce.

Selecting an Olympic Bid City

SASCOC chiefs tell ATR that not one of the country's potential bid cities - Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg - had thrown their hat into the ring.

And Rogge declined to comment on any city. "If a bid comes it's up to my South African friends to decide which city they would prefer," he said.

Rogge has never been to Durban but heads there for the IOC World Conferenceon Sport, Education and Culture, Dec. 5 to 7.

Durban hosts the 123rd IOC Session in July next year and appears to be the favorite to be nominated, ifSASCOC and the government decide to launch a bid for 2020.

Rogge dismisses suggestions that the flight chaos at the King Shaka International Airport in Durban for the World Cup semi-final between Germany and Spain was an early minus point for the city's Olympic hopes.

"No, absolutely not. We are speaking about a potential bid for 2020, we are not speaking of 2010. If errors have been made, they will be corrected in due time. That's not an issue," he told ATR.

Last Wednesday, private jets carrying heads of state and celebrities refused to vacate space allocated for chartered aircraft, meaning that around 400 football fans were forced to miss the semi-final due to delays and congestion at the airport.

There were an unprecedented number of flights and the airport simply could not cope with the volume of air traffic.

SASCOC Seeks Direction from Government

/>Sam Ramsamy, IOC member from South Africa, told ATR that a 2020 Olympic bid had not yet been discussed by SASCOC and the government, although president Jacob Zuma has made comments supporting a bid.

"I don't want to jump the gun. We don't know whether they [the three cities] want to bid or when," he said.

SASCOC president Sam said: "There is no doubt about what the World Cup has done, it has made South Africans dream bigger. You will hear on street corners people saying 'what next'

"We have to pay attention to keep that momentum," he said.

Both Sam and Tubby Reddy said the next step was for SASCOC officials to sit down with the government to decide whether an Olympic bid was viable and which South African city might benefit most from staging the Games.

Further backing for a possible bid is on the agenda for Tuesday's SASCOC board meeting

"We will be guided by the development goals of the government," Sam said.

"We may be strategic about it, but the dream from South Africans is not something we will be able to suppress."

But Sam underlined the fact that the Olympics was a "huge undertaking on a huge scale" and SASCOC and the government would have to manage people's expectations."

SASCOC is already benefiting from the experience of Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the World Cup organizing committee, in preparations for the IOC Session in 2011.

And the man credited with masterminding South Africa's successful World Cup could end up having a key role in a 2020 bid.

"I spoke to them. I am working with them on the 123rd IOC Session. I will see," Jordaan told Around the Rings after a media briefing in Johannesburg on Saturday.

"If I still have the energy... I will go and rest first. If they ask me, I will consider it."

Earlier today, Rogge took part in a handover ceremony for a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter to the South African NOC, a donation made by under the IOC's Olympic Solidarity program.

SASCOC said the 22-seat bus will be made available to more than 70 national federations and used to transport young South African athletes to training sites as well as to competitions.

Reported from Johannesburg by Mark Bisson.