Youth Olympics should not be an expensive affair: IOC president

Innsbruck (Austria) - International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has said the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) should not be made a costly affair.

Compared with the traditional Olympic Games, which often cost huge amounts of money, the Youth Games, Rogge says, should be a money-saving task.

“The Youth Games should be staged in city where we don’t need new construction and we have to rely on the existing construction,” said Rogge in a press conference before the closing ceremony of the inaugural Winter YOG here.

The Winter YOG was held during the past ten days in the Austrian ski resort, host of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympic Games with no new stadiums built specially for the event. The Innsbruck Organising Committee made full use of the existing stadiums, which Rogge was satisfied with.

“The principle is that we don’t want a big capacity stadium. Here most of the stadiums have a capacity of 2,000 people. I think small stadiums create a better atmosphere,” Rogge said.

- IANS