'India can host the Olympics, but...'

Onkar Singh

International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who is credited with making the Olympic Games a money spinner, says the one task he could not accomplish during his 21-year tenure at the helm of the world's apex sports body is increasing women's participation in the administration of sports.

"There is one area where work needs to be done. The number of women participants is less then 42 per cent at the moment and there are few women in the administrative side. I would like to see women representatives in all the National Olympic Associations, as well as at the level of the International Olympic Committee, involving themselves in administrative work," he told newsmen at a press conference in Delhi, on Friday night.

Samaranch, who will lay down office in Moscow on July 16, stopped over at Delhi, on his way back to Lausanne after visiting Bhutan, to present the Olympic Order -- awarded posthumously to Indian sports journalist Sushil Jain -- to Arun Kumar Jain, the recipient's son, at a dinner hosted by Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi.

Excerpts from the press conference:

In the last two decades the hosting of the Olympic Games has become an expensive proposition so much so that only affluent countries can afford to bid to host the Games. Why?

I must admit that the hosting of the Games has become expensive. Hosting of the Olympic Games has become a big business for the cities that want to stage the Games. But, at the same time, I would like to clarify that a part of the costs are met by the money that is handed over to the city that stages the Games from the money that is made by the IOC through selling of the television rights and other avenues. At this juncture we are giving 50 per cent of our total receipt to the city that hosts the Games. But if any country wants to build national highways and expand its telecommunication network, this cost has to be borne by the government of that country. A part of the money comes to the IOC and the rest is given to the National Olympic Associations. There are two hundred National Olympic Associations who are members of the International Olympic Committee.

Why does the host country have two votes?

We have already amended the rule and now each country has one vote.

How can the Olympic movement be called autonomous when the governments of various countries control the money which is given to the National Olympic Committees?

I have asked the National Olympic Committees to work in close coordination with the governments but the governments must also respect the autonomy of the National Olmypic Associations and ensure that they do not interfere with the work of the NOC. The two have to work in close coordination and harmony.

How do you look back on your tenure as IOC president?

I took over as the president of the International Olympic Committee in Moscow in 1980 under most difficult circumstances, when there was a threat that the movement would itself would be split because of the boycott of the Games by some countries. But I must say that I am quitting on a satisfactory note because the Olympic movement in the last 20 years has become so strong now that it would not be under threat again.

Yes, we did have problems, but we have managed to overcome them and emerge stronger than ever.

You have seen many Olympic Games being staged. Which one was the best?

To my mind the Sydney Olympic Games were the best organized games that I have ever seen.

You said that there were problems during your tenure in the Olympic movement. Would you like to elaborate?

I have already said that the movement was threatened with boycotts from various quarters. The People's Republic of China threatened to boycott the Games if the IOC invited Taiwan to participate in the Games. We did encounter few problems from time to time, including the unpleasant controversies regarding the staging of the Games by a particular city.

If there was no controversy about the staging of the games by Salt Lake City, probably you would have continued as the president of the IOC. Do you agree with it?

No. I am going before my term has come to an end. That is why I am laying down my office and not because of the controversy.

Do you think India can host the Olympic Games?

Of course, India can host the Olympic Games, because it is a country of over one billion people in population. I feel India could in future hold Olympic Games. But I would like to say one thing -- that the host country should have a strong contingent to represent the country.

With a couple of months to go before you lay down office, is there anything that you would like to accomplish?

I promised that I would visit all the 199 members of the Olympic movement, except Afghanistan because there we have two factions representing the Olympic association of the country. From India I go back to Europe and then during the last leg of my tour I go to Moscow, the city where I took over as the president of the IOC, and hand over the charge to the newly-elected president of the IOC.

Yes, there is one area where work needs to be done. The number of women participants is less then 42 per cent at the moment and there are few women in the administrative side. I would like to see women representatives in all the National Olympic Associations as well as at the level of the International Olympic Committee involving themselves in administrative work. I hope my successor would be able to achieve this task.