Sam Ramsamy is now=20 on the IOC and there is other good news for=20 Cape Town’s Olympic=20 bid, writes Julian Drew
AFTER several months earlier this year when the Cape=20 Town Olympic Bid seemed to be on a kamikaze course of=20 self destruction, followed by a period of quiet=20 uncertainty, South Africa’s delegation to the annual=20 session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in=20 Budapest returned with some positive news this week.=20
Perhaps the most positive happening in Hungary was the=20 election of National Olympic Committee of South Africa=20 (Nocsa) president Sam Ramsamy onto the IOC, but it was=20 by no means the only good news to come our way.
Accompanying Ramsamy on his trip were Chris Ball, the=20 newly appointed CEO of the Cape Town Bid Committee,=20 Clive Keegan, its vice-president, and Ngconde Balfour,=20 a member of the new committee and vice-chairman of the=20 preceding interim bid committee. “Although people=20 weren’t saying directly that they would vote for us=20 there was a very positive feeling about Cape Town’s bid=20 and we didn’t experience any negative vibes=20 whatsoever,” said Ramsamy.=20
While bad publicity had reached the rest of the world=20 about Cape Town’s bid problems, Ramsamy believes the=20 damage was minimal. “The international perceptions from=20 what I gathered were that they’d heard about Ackerman’s=20 resignation and things like that but the news hadn’t=20 all been negative. They know we’ve had problems but=20 they also know that we have now sorted them out. The=20 fact that I introduced Chris Ball to everybody showed=20 that we have sorted things out and they were all very=20 impressed with him,” said Ramsamy.
Another positive aspect according to Ramsamy was the=20 way in which he and the other three South Africans=20 worked so well together. “I would often only receive=20 two invitations to functions which meant I could only=20 take one of the other three with me,” said Ramsamy.=20 “Ngconde and Clive would always say ‘Take Chris, he’s=20 the most important person’, and that augers very well=20 for the bid because people are already working as a=20 team,” he claims.
“There was a sentiment in favour of Cape Town and a=20 sentiment in favour of Africa. There were a lot of=20 personal friendships because of Sam’s long involvement=20 in international sport but there was also an awareness=20 that we have to deliver on the technical side. We stand=20 a very good chance of winning the bid and that is a=20 position a lot of other cities would love to be in,”=20 said Ball from Cape Town this week before jetting out=20 to London for a short holiday.=20
“The first thing we must work on now is getting the=20 support of the people in Cape Town and the rest of the=20 country because we are not simply entitled to their=20 support. Until we give them the necessary information=20 that won’t happen, but I’m reluctant to divulge=20 anything just yet until I’m satisfied that the=20 information that’s released will not change. But there=20 will be an announcement soon,” said Ball.
Ramsamy’s membership of the IOC means that he will be=20 able to study first hand the bids of other cities for=20 the 2004 Olympic Games because he will be invited to=20 visit them all as an IOC member.=20
“I will be able to study the strengths and weaknesses=20 of all the other cities and relay this information to=20 Cape Town. From this I should also be able to point out=20 Cape Town’s weaknesses so that we can try and sort them=20 out,” said Ramsamy.=20
“More significantly, I will become a voting member of=20 the IOC which means that Cape Town is guaranteed at=20 least one vote,” he declared, tongue in cheek.
Membership of the IOC will eventually bring more=20 responsibilities to Ramsamy who already regularly puts=20 in a 16 hour working day at Nocsa, but he doesn’t see=20 any immediate problems with his work load. “I will=20 still spend most of my time with Nocsa and I believe I=20 can do that without sacrificing any of my IOC=20 responsibilities simply because the one dovetails into=20 the other so well. About 20 IOC members are presidents=20 of their Olympic committees. I think one role actually=20 complements the other,” he said.
Although many IOC members have a reputation of living=20 it up and travelling the world on visits to bidding=20 cities or on other IOC business, Ramsamy will not be=20 joining the bandwagon. “I will only take the mandatory=20 visits. I will only do what is absolutely necessary,”=20 he declared.
Ramsamy currently chairs the Association of National=20 Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca) Commission on=20 Communication and Publicity and has been asked to sit=20 on the Association of National Olympic Committees=20 (Anoc) Technical Committee and when he does get asked=20 to serve on any of the IOC’s commissions he could find=20 himself overloaded.
Help is at hand, however, and the Nocsa management=20 committee is already considering appointing a CEO to=20 take over some of Ramsamy’s administrative tasks. “We=20 need someone with a good business acumen who will also=20 have the respect of the staff and know something about=20 sport. We won’t just fill the position for the sake of=20 it but we are head hunting right now,” says Ramsamy.=20
“I think a CEO would be useful because it will free me=20 from a lot of daily routine and allow me to do other=20 work on behalf of Nocsa.”
One task the former lifesaver has already committed=20 himself to is relinquishing the presidency of Swimming=20 South Africa next year. Hopefully he will also use his=20 aquatic skills to keep his head above water until the=20 management committee finds the right man to reduce his=20 burden at Nocsa.