German members of the IOC 2014 commission resign

ATHENS, Oct 6 (Reuters) Two German members of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) evaluation commission for the 2014 Winter Games bids have resigned to avoid a possible conflict of interest, the IOC said today.

IOC member Walther Troeger and fellow evaluation commission member Oskar Fischer, a representative of the International Ski Federation (FIS), resigned because Austria's Salzburg bid file locates the bobsleigh competition in Germany, their home country.

Salzburg plans to use the nearby world-class Koenigssee bobsleigh track in Germany for the Olympic competition if it wins the right to host the Games.

''The two have resigned over the location of Salzburg's bobsleigh competition in the 2014 bid,'' an IOC official told Reuters.

The commission headed by Japanese IOC member Chiharu Igaya will visit the three bid cities, South Korea's Pyeongchang, Russia's Sochi and Salzburg in February and March next year.

The IOC will select the winning city in July next year. The 2010 Winter Games will be held in Vancouver, Canada.

REUTERS DH BST2141