President Barack Obama pauses during a break in taping of a CNN town hall meeting with CNN news anchor Jake Tapper, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016, in Fort Lee, Va., with members of the military community. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama has suggested that decisions on who hosts the Olympics are corrupt, in a wide-ranging interview that touched on Chicago’s failed 2016 bid.
In an interview published late Sunday, Obama recalled his 2009 travel to Copenhagen in a failed effort to get his adopted home city across the finishing line.
“Everybody thought that if I flew out there we had a good chance of getting it, and it might be worth essentially just taking a one-day trip,” Obama told New York magazine.
“Subsequently, I think we’ve learned that IOC’s decisions are similar to FIFA’s decisions: a little bit cooked,” he said comparing the International Olympic Committee to football’s scandalized governing body.
The loss for Chicago was seen as a political blow for Obama.
Rio eventually emerged from a crowded field to win the right to host the games.