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Madrid unworried Obama election win could harm their Olympic bid

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-07 09:03

MADRID -- Manuel Cobo, the deputy mayor of Madrid, refused to accept on Thursday that the election of Barack Obama as the new US president is a setback to Madrid's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

Obama is from Chicago, another city aiming to host the 2016 games, and several Spanish observers believe his election as the new US president will give that city's profile a huge boost while providing a setback to Madrid's ambitions.

Nevertheless, speaking to the online edition of Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Cobo was remaining relaxed about that prospect.

"The Chicago candidacy will try and take advantage, as is logical, of the fact that one of their citizens is the president-elect. However, you have to know that every member of International Olympic Committee has their own different criteria."

"The fact that the president of a country is from a candidate city is not going to change anyone's voting intention."

"From what we know at the moment, Madrid has serious prospects of hosting the 2016 Olympic Games, irrespective of who is the president of the United States," said Cobo.