01 cover sbi 152.indd - FIFA/CIES International University Network

COMMUNIQUE
November 2009,
New York
InternAl AnAlySIS And WrAnglIng Are
unSurPrISIngly the reSPonSe to ChICAgo’S
fAIlure to BrIng home the olymPIC gAmeS.
US rejection and dejection Getty Images Sport
the Czech Republic and India respectively.
So here’s my concluding fact: it now falls to US
Soccer (bidding for the 2022 World Cup) and the
city of Denver (a possible candidate to bid for the
2022 Winter Olympics) to bring the world back
to the US. Simple maths says 20 years will have
passed since the US hosted the scandal-plagued
2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Two decades is a long time in a digital age and
it might suggest the world’s sport site selectors
are quietly determining they can sustain their
championship business despite America’s wealth
and modern stadia infrastructure. That or they
are determining other places are better suited, or
more deserving, for global sports celebrations.
Does it mean America is falling behind in
something that isn’t quite a race Does it suggest
Americans need to start joining (or getting
elected to serve as members on) the federations
that make these decisions
My sense is an unqualified ‘yes’ and I write
that knowing America has been well placed with
selection for many of the major IF events in the
past (Olympics, FIFA World Cup) although not
for rugby union, cricket or athletics.
I also know that no country is better than any
other country and all are deserving if they are
capable of managing the logistics and generating
the appropriate local/national community support.
As a first-generation American, though, I can
only quietly (and humbly) hope that my country
of birth, with its many resources, will fully
support US Soccer and the USOC to get America
back in gear by 2020 or 2022. Otherwise, I will
need to keep my passport active.
Rick Burton is the David B. Falk Professor of Sports
Management at Syracuse University in Syracuse,
N.Y and a former chief marketing officer of the US
Olympic Committee.
The fallouT from the failed Chicago
bid could last for years, perhaps
decades. “It’s very real,” Doug Logan,
Ceo of USA Track and Field, told The
Associated Press, “and for us to take
our rightful place, we have to have an
understanding of what’s really going
on out there.”
one thing that is going on - and is a
positive for the US olympic movement
- has been the upheaval within the
USoC ranks since the failure in
Copenhagen. Stephanie Streeter,
who replaced Jim Scherr as Ceo has
stepped aside. A search is on to find
a leader with stronger connections to
the international olympic community.
There certainly won’t be any plans
for future US olympic bids until
new leadership is in place at the
USoC after what Swiss IoC
member Denis oswald
called “a defeat for
the USoC, not for
Chicago.”The
United States may
well contribute
more money
to the olympic
movement than
any other nation,
but the USoC’s
infighting and
perceived arrogance
contributed to the loss
of face. “I’m incredibly
saddened by the developments, which
I lay largely at the feet of the USoC,
which has clearly lost its way,” said
NbC Universal Sports and olympics
chairman Dick ebersol.
The well-connected Scherr believes
it is more complex and that rio was
destined to win hosting rights for the
2016. Games.
“The headline should be: rio won
the bid. Chicago did not lose the bid
and Chicago did not lose by bidding,”
said Scherr, who was forced to resign
in march, a move that agitated many
national governing bodies within the
US olympic movement.
“The IoC and the IoC president
Jacques rogge wanted to plant the
flag of the olympic movement and
the olympic Games in South America.
Jacques rogge wanted that, I believe,
as part of his legacy as president of
the IoC, to go to another continent
with the olympic Games.”
Still, Scherr concurs that the
tumult within the USoC couldn’t have
helped his country’s case for 2016 and
could continue to damage US chances
in future bidding.
“This wasn’t something new in the
last six or seven months,” Scherr
said. “The Salt Lake City bid scandal,
what the IoC felt was the overcommercialised
Atlanta Games, the
Iraq War, America’s role in the global
economy... All of these issues have
affected the USoC and its standing in
the IoC for a long time.
“If the United States chooses to
bid again, it’s going to be a very
long and difficult process to
address those issues
so that a US city
really has equal
footing and an
opportunity to
win the right
to host an
olympic and
Paralympic
Games.”
All of
which does
not mean the
United States has
become a non-player
on the olympic stage.
“I don’t think you’re ever going
to abandon hope,” USA Swimming
executive director Chuck Wielgus
said at the time. “but the recent
happenings at the USoC - certainly
some of those things have probably
not helped in the minds of IoC
members who have long memories.”
So what next for the USoC As bob
Ctvrtlik, a former IoC member who
was part of the initial Chicago 2016
bid team puts it: We’ll just have to
see. When we said it was the right
place, the right time, we meant it. I
don’t think it’s anti-American. I think
we still don’t have the horsepower
to do the politicking. ... International
engagement takes a lot of time.”
Barry Wilner
AP and SportBusiness International
SportBusiness International • no.152 • 12.09 13