Next week, I will provide German readers with exclusive background information on the Olympic bid. Since dubious websites such as Insidethegames are spreading unsorted nonsense, a mixture of propaganda and AI hallucinations, I'm offering the English-speaking audience a brief summary in the meantime.
Are five-figure sums and value-in-kind promises being offered for votes at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) election congress in Doha? Whistleblowers are said to have informed ITTF's Integrity Unit. A preliminary investigation is apparently underway. Elections take place on Tuesday.
Presidents of the ITTF and IWF are being elected in Doha and Riyadh these days. In Qatar, president Petra Sörling, an IOC member, must hold her own against host Khalil Al-Mohannadi. An official who once caused difficulties for the Qatari had been arrested and threatened with several years in prison.
I have been asked by IOC members and leading officials from Olympic IFs what this alleged German bid is all about. So I thought I should provide this information to thousands of non-German readers. To put it bluntly: Germany's so-called Olympic bid is, unfortunately, still a laughing stock.
The IOC president announces that a German bid for the Olympics has no chance as long as Germany does not submit to the IOC demands and guarantee Vladimir Putin's state athletes full freedom of movement. The DOSB, just recently under SPD control, has already hired a former CDU politician.
At a board meeting, DOSB discussed a ‘worst-case scenario’ and is looking for solutions for several million euros that will soon be lost due to a reduction in IOC royalties of around 30 per cent. On another topic: there are, of course, still no concepts and budgets for the so-called Olympic bid.
