New IOC VP John Coates said that Australia should not "bid for another Olympic Games because the enormous costs involved would be better invested in athletes." Coates: "It is a big call to underwrite A$75M ($70M). That's a lot of money, and I would rather see that amount go to sport instead" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/11). ... Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov said the facilities for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics are nearly ready and "everything is going according to plan." Zhukov said that "organizers must now focus on 'fine-tuning' and logistical issues, in particular, transportation and lodgings for the more than 2,000 organizing committee members and 27,000 volunteers who will run the event" (MOSCOW TIMES, 9/10). ... Sochi Organizing Committee President Dmitry Chernyshenko "has expressed frustration that the controversy over gay rights in Russia has yet to die down." Chernyshenko has been attending the IOC congress in Buenos Aires, where he said that "the issue was being raised too often" (R-SPORT, 9/9). ... The IOC confirmed its restored ties with the U.S. after a long-standing revenue dispute was settled last year "by electing U.S. Olympic Committee President Larry Probst into its membership." Probst and U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun "helped to forge a new revenue deal in 2012 after years of disputes with the IOC over the sharing of revenues from television deals and sponsorship contracts" (REUTERS, 9/10).
