Times Live reports that Gideon Sam, president of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), confirmed Monday South Africa would consider bidding for either the 2020 or 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
Sam reportedly said the Olympic governing body would consult with the South African government and the national federations regarding the possibility of hosting the first quadrennial Games on the continent.
He said, “it is the dream of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that developing countries are given an opportunity to host the Olympics. It is now up to the government, the national Olympic committee, and the sporting community whether or not this country takes the decision to bid for the Games.
“The IOC has certain policies by which we will be guided if our government supports a possible bid. I can’t say that we will be going for 2020 or 2024, but we will be guided by the sporting movement in this country as to what we are going to do”.
Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC, said the Fifa World Cup had been an “outstanding success” and that an Olympic bid from South Africa would be welcomed after the nation had organized yet another successful international sports tournament. “From the start, when South Africa were named as World Cup hosts, we all knew the country would be able to organize the tournament”, he said”.
He added, “now it is up to you as a nation to decide if you want to host this event”.
Deputy sports minister Gert Oosthuizen said the government had already shown interest in bidding for a future Olympics and would be in discussions with SASCOC about the 2020 and 2024 Games. I think it’s safe to say that we have expressed interest in hosting an event of this magnitude that will leave legacies”.
