(ATR) “Friendly, warm” is how the opening hours of the IOC 2014 Evaluation Commission visit to Salzburg is being described, opponents of the bid get to have their say to the IOC visitors and Salzburg organizers “acted decisively” to rescind a a code of conduct for journalists covering the meeting. On the scene coverage inside…

Leaders of Salzburg 2014 at a Wednesday news conference. (ATR)

Bid Leaders Meet the Press

Leaders of the Salzburg bid spoke with confidence about the opening round of their meetings with the IOC at a press conference early Wednesday afternoon.

“This is a bid that certainly the IOC can look upon and say ‘here we know we get delivery in time and in the way that it is promised’” said Mayor Heinz Schaden.

Among the subjects covered in the morning was sport and venues, which Schaden says is one of the strong points of the Salzburg bid.

“Eight of the 11 venues are already there. The traffic infrastructure is there. The Main Media Center is there. The stadium for the opening and closing ceremony is there,” said Schaden, continuing with a list that included the bobsleigh track at Berchtesgaden in nearby Bavarian Germany.

One of the weak points for the bid remains the lukewarm support compared to Sochi and PyeongChang. Members of the IOC commission met with bid opponents Wednesday, as is customary during a commission visit. Opposition to the bid is based on fears that the games will cost the city and that money spent for the Olympics is better spent on schools or other public needs.

Schaden says “we are quite comfortable with the level of support we have now”, which he indicates is above 60 percent in Salzburg and above 80% across the country. The IOC will conduct its own poll of public opinion in Salzburg.

Commenting on the enthusiasm of Austrians to attend winter sports events, Franz Klammer, chair of the international campaign for Salzburg said “we will organize Games for athletes, for spectators. Without spectators, there are no Olympics.”

“We can create an atmosphere of magic, an atmosphere of sports, a winter sports festival, said Schaden.

“I think that enhances the brand of the Olympic Winter Games itself. I think this is something we can do and guarantee because you get TV pictures that are unique, because you are at the original alpine setting with crowds of spectators, celebrating, partying, having a good time.”

Leo Wallner, Austrian Olympic Committee President and the country’s lone IOC member dismissed the idea that Salzburg might be edged out of the 2014 race by a desire by is colleagues to select the Asian candidate in order to balance placement of the Winter Olympics with Europe and North America.

“I think the decision will not be taken to balance these things. The vote will be taken on the best bid,” he said.

The 12-member commission that includes four staff

Optimism rules: Austrian Olympic Committee President Leo Wallner and international chairman Franz Klammer.

from the IOC, is meeting at hotel on the outskirts of Salzburg through Saturday. Thursday the group will head to the mountain venues, stopping at seven locations in a day long tour. Weather is expected to be sunny with temperatures above freezing.

Press Rules Relaxed

Acting quickly to make things right for media covering the IOC visit to Salzburg, organizers have withdrawn a code of conduct that journalists were required to sign to receive credentials for the IOC visit.

The code warned that journalists speaking to members of the IOC commission during the visit could have their credentials pulled. Salzburg was the only one of the three cities in the 2014 race to out journalists in that position. 

A clarification issued Wednesday from international press chief Alexandra Knoke announced the

Mike Lee moderated the Salzburg news conference at which he announced an end to the code of conduct for journalists covering the IOC commission visit. (ATR)

end of the code.

“It is clear from IOC guidelines that the Evaluation Commission Members will not comment on any of the three bids in the course of their visit.

“The Commission members will only be available for comment on their scheduled assessment of their visit to Salzburg at the final press conference on Saturday.

“We know that you will respect these guidelines and understand that it is the role of Salzburg 2014 to ensure that these guidelines are respected,” wrote Knoke in an email to reporters covering the commission visit.

“Of course we understand that conversation with Commission Members will take place in the course of the visit and this will not affect media accreditation.

“We apologize for any misunderstanding that may have occurred and hope that you will enjoy your time here in Salzburg, she said.

Mike Lee, adviser to Salzburg 2014, tells Around the Rings that the bid committee acted quickly in response to the journalist complaints about the code of conduct.

“We acted decisively,” he says.

Lee, who has tried to play a background role in the bid, took the stage during the Wednesday press conference to moderate the briefing. The press conference, which included four leaders of the bid team, he says is an example of how Salzburg 2014 is committed to being accessible to the media.

The briefing attracted about two dozen reporters and a half dozen TV crews, still off the marks set last month in media coverage of the Sochi and PyeongChang visits by the IOC commission.

On the scene coverage from Salzburg, throughout the week at www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only.