mr.x
July 9th, 2007, 06:14 AM
Vanoc, IOC debate 2010 progress as annual session wraps
Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun | July 7, 2007
GUATEMALA CITY - John Furlong and David Cobb learned a lot about their relationships with the International Olympic Committee before the annual session wrapped up Sunday.
Over five intense days, Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee, and Cobb, executive vice president, packed in as much time as they could with IOC members and staff, as well as the heads of international sporting federations. They briefed their partners on everything from marketing and finance to plans for the torch relay to their recommendations on mascots.
They watched with a sense of deja vu all over again as the three finalists for the 2014 Winter Games made their final pitches, and they witnessed the looks of crushing defeat on the faces of the Austrians and South Koreans as jubilant Russians celebrated a stunning win for Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.
And throughout their numerous meetings, they were left with a reinforced sense of mutual cooperation between the two agencies.
But for all the time and effort they put into cultivating their contacts, Furlong and Cobb were taken by surprise on the last full day of their participation at the IOC's 119th Session.
After a long day of discussions over IOC President Jacques Rogge's concept for a new Youth Olympic Games, and coming at the back end of series of reports on other Olympic cities, the IOC members were tired. Furlong sensed that he should speed up and cut short his formal report to the session. He also was suffering from severe chills that were eventually lay him up in bed. So he blasted through his report, at times impatiently telling the video operator "next slide, next slide!"
Yet no sooner had he finished his report than he was hit with a series of questions and criticisms from IOC members that he said later, in hindsight, showed how acutely the committee follows the workings of Vanoc.
Kevan Gosper, the head of the IOC's press commission, called Furlong's report "a bit thin" and Prince Albert of Monaco wanted more details on Vanoc's relations with First Nations.
Portuguese IOC member Fernando Lima Bello asked about the state of construction of the Sea-to-Sky highway to Whistler, saying he was concerned about the time it was taking.
But it was an observation by Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. about Vanoc's recently published business plan that hinted at the sometimes tense relationship Vanoc has had with the IOC over money.
Furlong admitted to the session that there had been "animated" discussons with the IOC staff over how much of the Olympic broadcast revenues Vanoc would receive.
It was an understatement. In an interview later, he said Vanoc had strong, but respectful arguments with the IOC over the need for more money.
The issue became heated because this was the first time the IOC had in recent history negotiated a share of revenues with an organizing committee.
In the past, the IOC used a formula: 49 per cent of broadcast revenues would go to the next summer and winter organizing committees, to be split two-thirds-one-thirds between the two. The remaining 51 per cent was used by the IOC to fund administration, national Olympic committees and sporting federations.
The IOC changed the rules for Games coming after the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. After Vancouver won the bid, the IOC said they would get a flat fee based on Turin, plus inflation. Last year, they offered Vanoc $495 million.
But in one of the first major tests of their relationship, Vanoc told the IOC it wasn't prepared yet to discuss its revenue needs until it had more fully developed its budget.
It eventually came back with a much higher demand, provoking a set of tense discussions.
"When you have discussions around funds it sometimes gets animated, but the relationship stood up and was strong," Furlong told the session in Guatemala.
In the normal diplomatic IOC parlance, it was as close as he got to saying they'd had a fight.
In the end, the IOC agreed to fork over a broadcast rights-based payment of $579.7 million, plus another $35 million as a special one-time payment to Vanoc's $100-million contingency.
From all of that Vanoc will pay the IOC $178 million for broadcast services.
But the details were missing from Furlong's presentation and Samaranch was unsatisfied.
On Saturday Gosper told The Vancouver Sun the IOC was worried about whether Vanoc was paying enough attention to the needs of the 10,000 media who will come to the Games.
He said his criticism of Furlong's report in the session stemmed from the fact Vanoc had tried unsuccessfully to promote the idea of a cruise ship in Squamish for accommodating the international media.
Gosper said his commission repeatedly told Vanoc last year that the proposal was unacceptable. "We kept telling them that it might be acceptable for sponsors or others who don't have the same needs as the world's press, but it wasn't going to fly with the media."
Gosper said he eventually had to personally travel to Vancouver to deliver the message to Vanoc, by which time Furlong had started to make more acceptable changes.
Vanoc eventually located more than 1,300 rooms in the Whistler area, but the IOC also has some concerns about whether international media will be housed close enough to the main media centre in downtown Vancouver, Gosper said. To Lima Bello's observation about the highway construction project, Furlong dryly noted to the session that this was the "road made famous by your IOC member Gerard Heiberg," who observed during an IOC evaluation commission that the road between Vancouver and Whistler "is too far."
Furlong told Lima Bello that the B.C. government was handling the reconstruction of the road and that work was 65 per cent complete.
Gosper said later the questions weren't meant to suggest the IOC doesn't trust Vanoc, but rather were to show that it closely monitors what Vancouver does and is interested in making sure the 2010 Games are the best.
"I think Vanoc is going a good job. We want to make sure it stays that way, and what you should take away from this is that we are very interested in your success," he said.
jefflee@png.canwest.com
Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun | July 7, 2007
GUATEMALA CITY - John Furlong and David Cobb learned a lot about their relationships with the International Olympic Committee before the annual session wrapped up Sunday.
Over five intense days, Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee, and Cobb, executive vice president, packed in as much time as they could with IOC members and staff, as well as the heads of international sporting federations. They briefed their partners on everything from marketing and finance to plans for the torch relay to their recommendations on mascots.
They watched with a sense of deja vu all over again as the three finalists for the 2014 Winter Games made their final pitches, and they witnessed the looks of crushing defeat on the faces of the Austrians and South Koreans as jubilant Russians celebrated a stunning win for Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.
And throughout their numerous meetings, they were left with a reinforced sense of mutual cooperation between the two agencies.
But for all the time and effort they put into cultivating their contacts, Furlong and Cobb were taken by surprise on the last full day of their participation at the IOC's 119th Session.
After a long day of discussions over IOC President Jacques Rogge's concept for a new Youth Olympic Games, and coming at the back end of series of reports on other Olympic cities, the IOC members were tired. Furlong sensed that he should speed up and cut short his formal report to the session. He also was suffering from severe chills that were eventually lay him up in bed. So he blasted through his report, at times impatiently telling the video operator "next slide, next slide!"
Yet no sooner had he finished his report than he was hit with a series of questions and criticisms from IOC members that he said later, in hindsight, showed how acutely the committee follows the workings of Vanoc.
Kevan Gosper, the head of the IOC's press commission, called Furlong's report "a bit thin" and Prince Albert of Monaco wanted more details on Vanoc's relations with First Nations.
Portuguese IOC member Fernando Lima Bello asked about the state of construction of the Sea-to-Sky highway to Whistler, saying he was concerned about the time it was taking.
But it was an observation by Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. about Vanoc's recently published business plan that hinted at the sometimes tense relationship Vanoc has had with the IOC over money.
Furlong admitted to the session that there had been "animated" discussons with the IOC staff over how much of the Olympic broadcast revenues Vanoc would receive.
It was an understatement. In an interview later, he said Vanoc had strong, but respectful arguments with the IOC over the need for more money.
The issue became heated because this was the first time the IOC had in recent history negotiated a share of revenues with an organizing committee.
In the past, the IOC used a formula: 49 per cent of broadcast revenues would go to the next summer and winter organizing committees, to be split two-thirds-one-thirds between the two. The remaining 51 per cent was used by the IOC to fund administration, national Olympic committees and sporting federations.
The IOC changed the rules for Games coming after the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. After Vancouver won the bid, the IOC said they would get a flat fee based on Turin, plus inflation. Last year, they offered Vanoc $495 million.
But in one of the first major tests of their relationship, Vanoc told the IOC it wasn't prepared yet to discuss its revenue needs until it had more fully developed its budget.
It eventually came back with a much higher demand, provoking a set of tense discussions.
"When you have discussions around funds it sometimes gets animated, but the relationship stood up and was strong," Furlong told the session in Guatemala.
In the normal diplomatic IOC parlance, it was as close as he got to saying they'd had a fight.
In the end, the IOC agreed to fork over a broadcast rights-based payment of $579.7 million, plus another $35 million as a special one-time payment to Vanoc's $100-million contingency.
From all of that Vanoc will pay the IOC $178 million for broadcast services.
But the details were missing from Furlong's presentation and Samaranch was unsatisfied.
On Saturday Gosper told The Vancouver Sun the IOC was worried about whether Vanoc was paying enough attention to the needs of the 10,000 media who will come to the Games.
He said his criticism of Furlong's report in the session stemmed from the fact Vanoc had tried unsuccessfully to promote the idea of a cruise ship in Squamish for accommodating the international media.
Gosper said his commission repeatedly told Vanoc last year that the proposal was unacceptable. "We kept telling them that it might be acceptable for sponsors or others who don't have the same needs as the world's press, but it wasn't going to fly with the media."
Gosper said he eventually had to personally travel to Vancouver to deliver the message to Vanoc, by which time Furlong had started to make more acceptable changes.
Vanoc eventually located more than 1,300 rooms in the Whistler area, but the IOC also has some concerns about whether international media will be housed close enough to the main media centre in downtown Vancouver, Gosper said. To Lima Bello's observation about the highway construction project, Furlong dryly noted to the session that this was the "road made famous by your IOC member Gerard Heiberg," who observed during an IOC evaluation commission that the road between Vancouver and Whistler "is too far."
Furlong told Lima Bello that the B.C. government was handling the reconstruction of the road and that work was 65 per cent complete.
Gosper said later the questions weren't meant to suggest the IOC doesn't trust Vanoc, but rather were to show that it closely monitors what Vancouver does and is interested in making sure the 2010 Games are the best.
"I think Vanoc is going a good job. We want to make sure it stays that way, and what you should take away from this is that we are very interested in your success," he said.
jefflee@png.canwest.com