International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge said Wednesday there was no ideal time for the United States to bid again for the Olympics.
Asked during a speech at the University of Southern California campus ahead of the IOC Conference on Women and Sport when the time is right to bid again, Rogge said, “when I open the envelope and read off the name. There is no ideal time, you have to go off your own strength. We have some spots where we still want to go, like Africa”.
The USOC and the IOC have been unable to resolve a financial dispute that is blocking any U.S. bid for the Games.
U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun, who heard Rogge’s comments, said any future domestic bids would be open to all comers rather than conducting a lengthy formal bid process.
He said, “so much of it depends on the cities that are interested, it depends on the leaders in those cities, it depends on our friends in Washington and how supportive they’re going to be. It depends on what is the mood of the International Olympic Committee. Until we get these revenue sharing discussions behind us, I think that’s going to be the big question in the room”.
He added that the USOC won’t consider another bid “unless or until we have resolved our negotiations with the IOC”.
As for Rome’s withdrawal from the race for the 2020 Summer Games leaving Madrid, Tokyo, Istanbul, Doha and Baku in the running, Rogge said, “I’m comforted by the fact that we still have five strong candidates”.
