The Year Ahead -- Bidding for 2020

(ATR) IOC president Jacques Rogge tells Around the Rings whichever continent hosts the 2018 Winter Olympics will also have a shot at the 2020 Summer Games.

"The perception of some people is to say the rotation of continents, even between winter and summer, will play a role, which I don’t believe is the case," he said.

"I agree there is a big importance, most likely within Summer Games or Winter Games, but I don’t believe there is a crossover because the issues are totally different. But we’ll know very quickly if this will materialize, soon after Durban. "

The IOC will select a 2018 host July 6 in the South African port city.

Though he doesn’t believe the 2018 race should impact that of 2020, Rogge said he expects exactly the opposite.

"A lot of these bids will depend on the decision of 2018, whether they will materialize or not," he told ATR last week during his first visit to Rio de Janeiro since the 2007 Pan American Games.

So far, Rome is the only city to formally launch a bid for 2020. Durban, South Africa’s city of choice, hasNOC backing but awaits government approval.

The Japanese Olympic Committee is encouraging interest from both Tokyo and Hiroshima. The latter was originally part ofa joint effort with Nagasaki until the JOC warned that the IOC was unlikely to approve a two-city bid.

Many had viewed the recent Commonwealth Games in Delhi as a stepping stone for India, but chief organizer and NOC president Suresh Kalmadi seemed to waver for the first time in his insistence on an Olympic-sized follow-up to Delhi 2010 as the beleaguered competition came to a close. IOC member Raja Randhir Singh told ATRlast month the NOC is still in discussions with the Indian government regarding 2020.

Other bids could come from Romania, Hungary and the Middle East.

Rogge acknowledged he is in communication with multiple cities but wouldn’t elaborate any further.

"I encourage by definition any good bid," he said. "It would be a bit premature for meto start giving names. But yes, I’m discussing with a number of potential bids."

Asked about a South African bid, Rogge refused to narrow in on a specific country and noticeably fell short of echoing comments made to ATR at the close of last summer’s World Cup in which he called for a bid from South Africa in particular.

"I would welcome a very well-prepared, strong bid from Africa," he said this time around. "I welcome every good bid.

The IOC will begin accepting applications for 2020 after this summer’s session in Durban. A host decision will come in 2013.

Written by Matthew Grayson.