Rogge wants rule change so IOC can pay his presidential successor
April 23, 2013
Outgoing Olympic president Jacques Rogge believes his successor should be paid formally after being voted in at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September.
The 70-year-old Belgian has received only his personal and professional expenses since succeeding Juan Antonio Samaranch in Moscow in 2001. But he said he recognised that the world had changed.
Rogge, in a wide-ranging interview with SuddeutscheZeitung, said: “This is an important question we must discuss within the executive board. Then the next session should make a decision.
“We need independent people for this office. But what happens if we have a young candidate with children in school or of college age? The Olympic family should make resources available so I propose that the executive endorse paying the president. This happens in other major sports organisations.”
Rogge refused, as usual, to offer any hint about his personal views of a successor when asked his preference between German Thomas Bach, Ng Ser Miang of Singapore and Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico.
Another important decision in Buenos Aires will be a new sport for the
Games from 2020 and the survival or exit of wrestling.
Rogge said he was not surprised at a strong reaction to the executive board’s proposal that wrestling’s Olympic future be questioned.
He said: “If we remove eliminate any sport there are always protests. Imagine, if we had put out modern pentathlon, immediately we would have been accused of betraying the legacy of Pierre de Coubertin who created the discipline.
“Wrestling can still be maintained in the Games by the session. The sport should make the most of this opportunity.”
Discussing host city decisions Rogge noted that sporting events were ideal vehicles to help countries improve infrastructure and standards, particularly now that Asia – as one example – was seeing an ever more rapid migration of people from the countryside to the cities.
Sochi, which will host the 2014 Winter Olympics, was a perfect example.
Rogge also offered words of hope to cities who have bid and failed in the past such as Munich which is considered whether to bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics after missing out in 2018.
He said: “Look at Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilians bid three times. Pyeongchang won [the 2018 Winter Games] only at the fourth attempt. So: Coming back definitely helps. After all, anyone who comes back benefits from sympathy and gratitude – and they can also improve the bid.”
Asked what he had learned from 12 years at the head of the IOC, Rogge said: “That you have to listen to people before making decisions. Listen, listen, listen. Only then can you think about the strategies of how things should be improved.”
As for his legacy, he said: “The quality of today’s Games, the introduction of the Youth Olympic Games, the good financial situation of the IOC. Setting up the fight against doping and matchfixing.
“I think that’s it.”
Keir Radnedge has been covering football worldwide for more than 40 years, writing 33 books, from tournament guides to comprehensive encyclopedias, aimed at all ages.
His journalism career included The Daily Mail for 20 years as well as The Guardian and other national newspapers and magazines in the UK and around the world. He is a former editor, and remains a lead columnist, with World Soccer, generally recognised as the premier English language magazine on global football.
In addition to his writing, Keir has been a regular analyst for BBC radio and television, Sky Sports, Sky News, Aljazeera and CNN.
Keir Radnedge’s Twitter: @KeirRadnedge
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