The Guardian reports that although Moscow is the long shot among the five cities bidding to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, those on the inside believe it could still influence the outcome of the 2012 bid and even knock out one of the favourites, London or Paris.
The newspaper says that Russia is expected to call upon favours from its former Soviet-bloc allies in a bid to ensue Russia’s president Vladimir Putin is not embarrassed.
It quotes an Olympic insider as saying “basically Russia remains a huge power base from the old Soviet days and there is no way that anyone wants to see it humiliated and go out in the first round. There will be a huge push to ensure they have enough votes at least to avoid humiliation. After that anything goes – but someone has to go out in the first round”.
The Guardian says the cities that could be eliminated in the first round are Madrid or New York. But Madrid has the backing of former International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Juan Antonio Samaranch, who remains hugely influential and can shift votes. And the newspaper adds that New York can call upon the influence of United States television, the single largest sponsor of the Olympic Games.
That leaves Paris and London, the favourites. According to the Guardian they need to ensure they have enough votes in the first round to avoid the prospect of being eliminated, unlikely as that seems.
Now that the IOC’s Evaluation Commission has concluded its inspection of the five bid cities it will prepare a report that will be published and submitted to IOC members no later than one month before the election of the 2012 host city on July 6, 2005 in Singapore.
