IOC President Jacques Rogge said yesterday he would be "delighted" if the United States decides to bid for the 2020 Olympics despite the stinging rejection of American cities in the race for two previous Summer Games.
New York failed in its bid for the 2012 Games and Chicago was eliminated in the first round for the 2016 Olympics, despite the appearance of President Barack Obama in Copenhagen for the vote in 2009.
National Olympic committees have until 1 September to submit the names of applicant cities for 2020.
The U.S. Olympic Committee has said it won't consider a bid until it reaches final agreement with the International Olympic Committee on a new revenue-sharing agreement, an issue that has festered for years and contributed to the humiliating losses for New York and Chicago.
"As far as the U.S. situation is concerned, there are declarations from the USOC that they are still waiting but, of course, if there is a good bid coming from the United States we would be delighted," Rogge said at a news conference at the close of the IOC's four-day session in Durban.
On another issue, Rogge said he expects half a dozen candidates to try to succeed him as IOC president when his term expires in 2013, but stressed he would not support or groom a successor.
"There is no lack of potential good successors and this is very good for the IOC," he said.
Rome is the only officially declared bid city so far for 2020, but several other cities are expected to join the race in the coming days and weeks.
Madrid, Tokyo and Istanbul are likely contenders. Doha, Qatar, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, could be potential candidates.
South Africa could still revive a 2020 bid, with Durban as the likely city, after the government said in late May that the time was not right for an Olympic campaign.
"You are as a nation ready to host the Olympic Games," Rogge said, referring to South Africa. "It's up to you what you do ... I have felt, speaking with your politicians, there was a desire to bid in the future. It might not be 2020, it might be 2024."
The U.S. hasn't hosted a Summer Olympics since the 1996 Atlanta Games.
American bids have been hampered by lingering international resentment over the USOC's long-standing 20 percent share of global sponsorship revenues and 12.75 percent cut of U.S. broadcast rights deals.
IOC and USOC officials met here Thursday for a new round of revenue talks and reported progress toward a final agreement. They agreed to meet again in the next few weeks in New York with the goal of concluding a deal.
Agreement on a revenue-sharing plan would open the way to a possible 2020 bid.
"We're not going to have any substantive discussions or make any decisions until this is behind us," USOC CEO Scott Blackmun told The Associated Press on Thursday. "We haven't spent a lot of time looking at whether there is still time to bid, but because it's theoretically possible, we don't want to rule it out."
Among U.S. cities mentioned as potential bidders include New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Minneapolis and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Several IOC officials told AP that New York would be the most viable U.S. candidate.
With the 2008 Summer Olympics in Asia (Beijing), 2012 in Europe (London) and 2016 in South America (Rio de Janeiro), geography could be an advantage for North America in 2020.
The Olympics have never been held in Africa.
"Many people believe this is the right time to bid because, as the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot," South African IOC member Sam Ramsamy said, adding the issue will be raised again by the country's sports minister with President Jacob Zuma.