Olympic leaders to push for change, continue ban on visiting bid cities

Olympic leaders concluded a potentially significant meeting in Switzerland on Thursday, having agreed upon dozens of proposals that could alter the way the Games are conducted in the future.

But there was a noteworthy omission from the executive board’s list -- the International Olympic Committee will not change its policy of prohibiting members from visiting bid cities.

The ban was originally enacted in response to a vote-buying scandal in the late 1990s, when potential hosts lavished members with cash and expensive gifts during bidding for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

“I hope my executive board members and other members will forgive me if I say here already, but there will be no recommendation for a change in this regard,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a Thursday conference call.

As for the 40 agreed-upon proposals -- part of Bach’s “Olympic Agenda 2020” -- they include provisions for being more flexible when it comes to choosing sports for the Games. The IOC could also pursue the creation of an Olympic television channel.

As part of his plan, Bach hopes the bid process can shift to a less-formal structure that would reduce costs for interested cities. A number of potential hosts recently withdrew from bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

In another development on Thursday, Serbia officially protested the executive board’s decision to grant conditional recognition to Kosovo. That move would allow Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, to send a team to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

The board will present its recommendations to the full membership in December.

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