Rogge, who gave a brief address to the attending industry experts, warned that the focus on a commercially-minded approach was casting a long shadow over the future of traditional sports bodies.
He stated: "Sport is at a crossroads. The economic slowdown is affecting our environment. New structures are appearing and jeopardising the traditional bodies, working outside of the grass-roots programmes."
During his speech, Rogge also reiterated the International Olympic CommitteeB4s intention to downsize the Games to make it more economically viable to stage and consequently open up the possibility of hosting the event to more cities and countries.
"The Olympics is a big event and the IOC has started to revisit the traditional format to make the Games less costly."
Speaking at SportBusiness2003 during the SportAccord event, IOC president Dr. Jacques Rogge told conference delegates in Madrid that sport is at a 'crossroads'.
