The Associated Press reports that former International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Juan Antonio Samaranch said he expects the selection of the host city for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games to be so close that two or three rounds of voting might be needed July 6.
Samaranch said the IOC evaluation commission’s opinion of each city’s bid was “very important but not definitive”. The commission will be visiting each of the five cities bidding for the 2012 Games in February and March, beginning with Madrid on February 3.
Samaranch said, “one must remember that the commission’s report of the cities is unlikely to be very positive, but it could be very negative. The voters, in addition, don’t have to abide by the commission’s recommendations. They can also decide out of affinity, friendship or sporting experience in each country”.
Samaranch doesn’t think security issues will play an important role in the commission’s evaluation given that all the cities will promise to have everything perfect. “What’s important is that nothing happens in the weeks prior to the vote. If what happened in Madrid happens on March 11 this year you can say goodbye to the candidacy”.
According to the Associated Press he was referring to the March 11 commuter train bombings last year, which killed 191 people and injured more than 1,500, blamed on Islamist radicals with possible connections to al Qaida.
