Intro:

IOC President Thomas Bach told SNTV on Thursday that he was "not surprised" that Oslo withdrew from the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and insisted there was "no reason" to re-open the bidding process.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) Thomas Bach, IOC President (Q: What was your reaction to Oslo withdrawing and what do you think happened?)

"First of all I felt very sorry for the Norwegian athletes and for all the great sports fans in Norway because they supported this bid so much, they wanted have this candidature so much and they are missing a great opportunity, in particular the successful Norwegian athletes, to perform at an Olympic Games at home is a unique opportunity which arrives only once in a lifetime. On the other hand I was not surprised because knowing the political circumstances in Norway, where you have a coalition government and a minority coalition government, it is very rare that such a government would risk its coalition for an issue, for a project which is showing its benefits only after the next election day."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Thomas Bach, IOC President (Q:Do you think there is a possibility of re-opening the bidding process?)

"No there is no reason for this, the bidding process is going on, this is a very transparent procedure with a clear regulations and we will follow these regulations. We have two candidates who are applying according to these regulations, so we cannot and we do not want to change the regulations in the middle of a race."