Chicago loss due to disagreement between the USOC and the IOC?

Rumors are spreading, both in the corridors of the Bella Center in Copenhagen, host of the ongoing IOC Session and in the international blogosphere, that Chicago loosing in the first round was due to controversy between The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Chicago Tribune commentator Philip Hersh first raised the suspicion Friday, after Chicago left the race unexpectedly early despite of the support of both the First Lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama, who were both present at the IOC Congress in Copenhagen.

According to Hersh, some believe IOC members' vote reflects longtime rift with U.S. leaders of the USOC.

"Chicago never had a chance, it turns out," Hersh quoted NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol for saying the day after the vote: "This was the IOC membership saying to the USOC there will be no more domestic Olympics until you join the Olympic movement."

Today, Danish newspaper Politiken reports that talk in corridors of the IOC Session in Copenhagen is of a financial disagreement between the USOC and the IOC. This disagreement is reported to be the reason why Obama was humiliated by what the newspaper call “an IOC plot” in Copenhagen.

“The International Olympic Committee had already decided not to choose Chicago even before President Obama came to Copenhagen,” writes Rasmus Bech of Politiken.

Politiken reports that the coordinated action in rejecting Chicago came as a result of dissatisfaction with the failed negotiations over revenue-sharing between the IOC and the USOC.

The disagreement is connected to a loan by the USOC to the IOC in the 1980s, when the IOC was in serious financial trouble. Since then, the IOC has become financially strong and enjoys an increase in income, out of which the USOC receive a percentage.

Since the USOC recently declined to give up part of their profit in favor of the poorest IOC countries, a group of the major international sporting federations decided to take action, winning support from IOC members to punish Chicago, reports the Danish newspaper.