Rogge

ISTANBUL, Turkey — The Olympic movement is on sound financial footing but must hold down the size and cost of the games to cope with the global economic downturn, IOC president Jacques Rogge said Friday.

"The games are not anymore in a growth mode, they are in a conservation mode," Rogge said in an address to the European Olympic Committees.

Rogge said future financial backing of the IOC by broadcasters and sponsors — who pump billions of dollars into the Olympics — will depend on successful staging of the games.

"This is what I would call virtual money. If there are not good games, there will be less money," he said. "We must make sure the games do not become too sophisticated, too big and too costly. Every demand to add more sports on the program, more athletes, more coaches or higher service levels adds to the difficulty of staging good games."

Rogge said the IOC must maintain its cap of 28 sports and 10,500 athletes for the Summer Games, and resist an "underground swell" to increase the number to more than 30 sports.

"In an economic boom, if there are resources that can be committed, it is OK to grow and have bigger games," he said later, speaking to reporters. "It is not a wise thing to do in a period of credit crunch."

The 2012 London Olympics will feature 26 sports. Seven sports — golf, softball, baseball, rugby, karate, squash and roller sports — are competing for two available slots on the program for the 2016 games.

Rogge insisted the financial situation for the next three Olympics — 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, London 2012 and 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia — were "secure."