German Olympic Sports Association (DOSB) President Thomas Bach on Thursday "announced his candidacy for the IOC presidency," according to BILD. Bach said, "Yesterday, I first informed IOC President Jacques Rogge, then the IOC members and today the member organizations of the DOSB of my intentions to submit my candidacy for the IOC presidential elections in June." He added, "Many of my colleagues from the IOC and German sport have reinforced my decision over the past several months." Bach, who is also VP of the IOC, "is deemed to be one of the most promising candidates" (BILD, 5/9). REUTERS' Karolos Grohmann reported the IOC "will elect a new president at its session in Buenos Aires" on Sept. 10 to replace Rogge, whose two-term rule since '01 comes to a mandatory end. Bach, who won fencing Gold at the 1976 Montreal Games, said that "he would inform his fellow members of his specific plans for the presidency after June 10, the deadline for the presidential candidature submissions." Bach, a lawyer by profession and chair of the Ghorfa Arab-German chamber of Commerce and Industry, "could come up against other senior IOC members with possible bids" from fellow VP Ng Ser Miang of Singapore and Puerto Rican Richard Carrion, head of the IOC's Finance Commission. C.K. Wu of Taiwan and Swiss sports administrators Denis Oswald and Rene Fasel "are also seen as potential candidates" along with former pole vault champion Sergei Bubka of Ukraine (REUTERS, 5/9).
MUNICH WORRIES: In Munich, Lisa Sonnabend reported Bach's candidacy "could affect Munich's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics." Should the IOC "elect a German president, Munich's chances would decline." The reason is the IOC "would most likely not vote twice for Germany." Munich, which lost in '11 against South Korea's PyeongChang to host the 2018 Winter Games, "will decide about a renewed Olympic bid" after the German federal and state elections in September (SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, 5/9).
