The International Olympic Committee and U.S. Olympic Committee announced agreement Friday on a plan to work out their financial differences, defusing a potentially damaging conflict less than seven months before the fate of Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics is determined.
“I have consistently said there should be no linkage between the USOC-IOC discussions and the election of the host city,” IOC president Jacques Rogge said in a news conference wrapping up the IOC’s executive board meetings here this week. “When I speak to my colleagues, the overwhelming majority did not want to make a link, and there is no link anymore, even for those who are most suspicious.”
Some IOC members complained bitterly over a revenue-sharing split they say is unfair to the IOC and international sports federations, but discussions to resolve those differences will be postponed until after the 2016 vote in Copenhagen, Oct. 2.
“This does take a little pressure off,” said USOC vice president Bob Ctvrtlik, who also serves as vice chairman of the 2016 bid. “We’ve never felt the IOC membership would hold this against the bid. We’ve never felt there was a strong linkage, but in a race where one or two votes can make a difference, we’d rather have this behind us, which we feel we do.”
The parties have two separate issues to resolve. One is the USOC’s share of the cost to stage the Olympics, and negotiations on that will begin before the end of the year. The USOC has agreed to contribute at an “appropriate level,” according to the agreement.
“Given that they will receive more revenue in the future, they will contribute more than a rank-and-file national Olympic committee,” Rogge said. “How much is to be debated.”
The other issue concerns how much Olympic Games revenue the USOC receives. Because current contracts run through the 2020 Games, discussions to adjust that split won’t begin until 2013.
“We feel this is a new era of cooperation and friendship between the USOC and the IOC,” Ctvrtlik said. “This is a very strong signal that some of the animosity or lack of communication in the past is finished. This agreement has finally given some clarity to this process, with a defined timetable.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
