INTERVIEW: Madrid and Rome "should worry" about 2020, Pound says

By Sebastian Fest Oct 12, 2011, 8:40 GMT

Madrid - Madrid and Rome 'should be worried' about the impact of the economic crisis on their candidatures to host the 2020 Olympics, according to Canadian IOC member Richard Pound.

Pound told dpa in an interview at the 'Play the Game' conference in Cologne, Germany, that he sees Istanbul as having good chances in the race.

Madrid and Rome 'have got economic difficulties in their countries, both of them. You read news every day in the newspapers about (their) financial stability,' Pound said.

'The evaluation comission will go there, and obviously the economic question will be critical.'

Asked whether it was a good idea to stage Olympics in the midst of an economic crisis, against the opposition of a part of the population, Pound said that it 'can be' a good idea 'if you have a lot of the infraestructure and facilities already in place.

'You can get a lot of extra money coming in the country, this could be helpful.'

Pound expressed trust in the chances of Istanbul, which is seeking to follow Sochi (2014 Winter Games), Rio de Janeiro (2016) and Pyeongchang (2018 Winter Games) in opening 'new territory' for the Olympics.

There was little worry about Istanbul being a dangerous place, he said. In one of its previous campaigns, Istanbul had 'one of the best campaign lines ever: Let's meet where the continents meet. Very appropriate.'

The race between Baku, Doha, Istanbul, Madrid, Rome and Tokyo to host the 2020 Olympics will be decided on September 7, 2013 in Buenos Aires when the IOC elects the host city.

The IOC session in Argentina will also see the election of a new IOC president as Jacques Rogge's second and final term ends.

Pound gave his support to Nawal el-Moutawakel if the former Moroccan runner, who has been in the IOC since 1998, decides to run for the top job in world sport.

'She's had some very good experience in the last few years, she comes from a part of the world that has never had an IOC president, she's an Olympic champion, she has a lot of things. She's smart,' said Pound.

In any case, there was no problem in having a female IOC president 'if we've got one who wants to run and she can persuade 50 per cent of the members plus one.'

Asked whether he would vote for el-Moutawakel, Pound said he would first see 'who the competitors are. (Germany's Thomas) Bach and (Puerto Rico's Richard) Carrion are very good, Ser Miang Ng from Singapore is also very good.'

Pound did not share the opinion of some IOC members who opposed a 'banker' like Carrion heading the Olympic movement.

'There is not an anti-banker bias in the Olympic movement. Now we have a doctor, and (the late IOC president Juan Antonio) Samaranch was a sort of banker. I don't think that's a problem.'

The Canadian, who is known for his frank and sharp style, criticized Rogge for having created the Youth Olympics.

If Pound had been IOC president, he said, 'we would not have the Youth Olympic Games. I don't think this is responsive to any need anywhere in the world.'

'It was supposed to be a response to DVD's and sedentary life. Instead, you take people already in the sports system and you give them a holiday for two weeks.'

Pound was also critical of a proposal by Spanish IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr to reinstate visits to bid cities, and not just because they were outlawed more than a decade ago in the wake of the Salt Lake City bribes-for-votes affair.

'Frankly, I don't know how much good these visits are. They bring you to the top of a tall building and they tell you, look, you see over there this stinking hill of garbage? Five years from now that will be an Olympic village.'

Such visits only served to give the visitors 'some sense of the city,' he said.

'We have the interim solution, which is the meeting in Lausanne, frankly that's a lot more efficient for me,' Pound said in reference to presentations of the candidate cities at the IOC's Swiss headquarters ahead of elections.

The Canadian said he did not mind his reputation as an IOC outsider who is not afraid to speak his mind.

'You can afford to ask hard questions. One of the reasons we got into trouble a few years ago was that nobody was asking hard questions,' said Pound.

Read more about IOC

Read more about Pound