Doha: Swimming legend Mark Spitz has shot down former French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s suggestion of moving FIFA World Cup and Olympic calendars, calling it ‘an outrageous idea which will be difficult to implement’.
The former Olympic champion, who won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics, said: “Sarkozy was out of his elements in trying to suggest that the Olympics could be hosted at a different time, which was his feeble way of basically appealing to the people here in Qatar that the World Cup should be held at a different time.”
Spitz, winner of nine Olympic gold medals besides silver and a bronze medal, said it will be difficult to change the dates as it would mean changing the season calendar of many sports.
“Over ten years time, they (TV) need sponsorship time and it is based on TV viewing audience and the gist they get from the people that are watching on TV, and not on the people sitting at the stadium. So, we have look at the whole scenario. And there are other professional sports, which have got television rights that are already prescribed and confirmed, like the soccer league, American National football league, baseball, basketball and those schedules cannot change,” added the 62-year-old, whose Olympic record of seven gold medals was surpassed by Michael Phelps at the 2008 Olympics.
On Tuesday, Sarkozy appealed to international sports governing bodies to change their calendar.
“Is it essential that the Olympic Games be systematically held in the month of August? Where is it written that it must be in August? Would they be less interesting in June?
“As for the World Cup, which I have followed so passionately for so many years, must it absolutely be organised in July? Were the World Cup to take place in another time of the year, would it not be as enthralling?” Sarkozy asked.
Spitz said the summer heat in Qatar should not be an issue at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“First of all the stadiums will probably be indoor stadiums and air conditioned.
“The athletes probably will work in air conditioned stadiums and only for a few spectators who have braved the heat would be in the stadium. If you think about the actual number of people who watch the actual event versus the world market, for example, the Olympics Games, 100 thousand people watch the track and field event in the stadium and there are a billion people watching on TV.
“The business model for the Olympic Games is that television networks pay billions of dollars for sponsorship rights,” he said.
Sarkozy had said that FIFA and the International Olympic Committee should be prepared to alter their calendar to accommodate certain countries.
“I say this from my heart, I do believe the issue of scheduling events needs to be reconsidered. Sport is universal. Scheduling is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
“For that reason we need to adapt the schedule,” Sarkozy said on Tuesday. THE PENINSULA
