The director of the German Sport Federation (FCB), Manfred von Richthoventhat, announced Monday that Mike de Vries will not head Leipzig 2012 after weeks of controversy over the appointment that was to begin July 1. de Vries was offered the position before the April 12 national nomination election and he was appointed on May 1.
His appointment was initially considered a strong one because of his experience with Olympic sports such as being press speaker of the German Olympic team in Sydney and director of sport in the German Hockey Federation. However, organizers of Leipzig 2012 felt he didn’t have enough identification with the Leipzig region because when he was chosen (before Leipzig received the nomination) Leipzig was an unlikely contender.
This recent turn of events put the Leipzig Olympic bid in disarray at a critical organizational time. The bid will seek a new leader and try to resolve the issue before the supervisory board meeting on July 11.
