The International Olympic Committee and U.S. Olympic Committee announced agreement today 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. “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 this week over a revenue-sharing split they say is unfair to the IOC and international sports federations, but now discussions to resolve those differences will be postponed until well after the 2016 vote on 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 at this point.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
