Home | China | World | Business Rogge:No Comment on Putin's Remarks MON, FEB 25, 2002     Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee(IOC), said on Sunday that he would not make any coment on the remarks by Russian president Vladimir Putin although he was surprised. He said that "one thing that has surprised me in Russia's comments" was that during the past 21 years of Juan Antonio Samaranch as IOC president, eveything went well with the Russian sports. "I think they had forgotten the Los Angeles 1984 (Games),"said Rogge. He referred to Russian boycott to the Games held in America. Putin stepped in the controversy after the Russian delegation became increasingly upset over officiating in pairs' figure skating, men's ice hockey and cross-country skiing and threatened to pull out of the Games. Putin took an unusual swipe at Rogge, telling reporters in Kremlin that "Juan Antonio Samaranch has gone and Jacques Rogge has taken his place. Regrettably for the new leadership, the first time is bound to be a flop". Rogge said that he would not make any other comments, as he "acknowledges that he(Putin) has his job to do, and I had mine, mine is to conduct the Games". Following the Russian threat, there has been a flurry of meetings and dialogues between the IOC and the Russian side, including a letter Rogge wrote to Putin. Though reluctant to reveal the details in these meeting, he said that there has been "very good meetings" with Russian sports leaders and members of Russian parliament and the discussion will continue. He suggested that the public opinion in Russia might have some misunderstanding of the IOC, thinking it has total control over everything of the Olympic Games. "The fundamental thing is that the public opinion believes everything is in the hands of IOC, they do not know what the international federation is," said Rogge. The IOC has stressed on many occasions that the settlement of the judging issues is the responsibility of the International federations concerned instead of the IOC. "We have no intentions to influence the public opinion in that country (Russia), we explain as much as we can," he said. In addition, he expressed his hope that the Russian delegation will attend the closing ceremony tonight which will put an end to the 17-day competition. He said that the Russian delegation would be wrong because the closing ceremony is one for athletes to parade in. "I am hopeful that they will be there, but let's wait and see,"he said. Editor:Zhong Source:Xinhua Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved