Dubai: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) may be willing to alter the timing of the summer Olympic Games should there be a serious and genuine contender in the future.
"The timing is not a disqualifying factor," IOC President Jacques Rogge told media in response to a question from Gulf News at the end of the day's programme at the SportAccord International Convention Dubai 2010, yesterday.
"But what is more important is that any of the countries from this region who want to bid for the Olympic Games need to have a bid that is properly studied and rehearsed as per the parameters laid down by the IOC," Rogge said.
"There are many countries and numerous cities from all across the world who would want to stage the Olympics. Unfortunately, the IOC does not operate on a rotation format like the Fifa World Cup while handing out the Games. The weather is a factor here, and we will have to find a way round it," Rogge added.
"But first, there has to be a bid."
Earlier this week, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had said he believed in Dubai's "can do" attitude in case there was to be a formal bid from the emirate for the 2022 Olympic Games.
Shaikh Mohammad had pin-pointed on the summer heat to be a serious problem to Dubai's aspirations of hosting the world's biggest sporting spectacle here. However, he had assured that Dubai would "take an honest look at our weaknesses and strengths" before tabling the bid.
"I can assure you of this, though: If we decide to make a bid for the Olympics, we will be in it to win. We would not take such a step unless we were quite serious about it," Shaikh Mohammad had said in last week's interview.
Rogge mentioned that his response to the query is very simple. "I know that Dubai is examining the possibility of staging an Olympics here. But we do not have any formal bid from them as yet. I know that there is an ongoing study to see the possibilities whether they can have the Games here," Rogge said.
He further said that the IOC has also been a member in assisting and guiding Dubai in this direction. "I know that the IOC is participating and helping the various Dubai sports authorities in an attempt to help launch the bid," Rogge said.
He related how the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro bagged the right to stage the 2016 Olympics based purely on its quality as a city. "It is a fact that this is the first time that we will be visiting South America with the Games, but that was not the criteria while judging Rio. So in the case of Dubai too ultimately the case will be judged on its merit," Rogge added.
