Talk of a joint Christchurch-Queenstown bid has increased in the light of rumours that Qatar 2022 will be hosting a winter World Cup in January to avoid their extremely hot summer.

The unprecedented move could result in a clash between the 2022 World Cup with the 2022 Winter Olympics.

With the snow season in New Zealand taking place in June, July and August a Christchurch-Queenstown Games would appear a logical potential alternative.

However, IOC President Jacques Rogge has said there are no plans to move the Games' date.

Maister, who has just stepped down as the secretary general of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) after ten years, is almost certain the country does not have the capacity to host an event the scale of the Olympics.

Maister told insidethegames: "Anybody who is proposing New Zealand host a Winter Olympic Games actually needs to go to a Winter Olympic Games.

"That is all I need to say because we are miles away from it.

"I love people with vision, I love people with passionate ideas and I love people that want to stretch the boundaries, but to notion the idea that we can host a Winter Olympics, that just isn't realistic.

"We simply couldn't cope with the size and the scale of such an event and to be honest, I don't think we would get any bidding support for it because a lot of the athletes wouldn't want to come all the way down here for unreliable snow and ice conditions.

"The staging of the events wouldn't be so much of an issue - my concern is the infrastructure.

"For example, there would be more buses required to get athletes up the mountains than we have got in New Zealand.

"I mean, the logistics just don't add up so there is a degree of realism from most of us that it is not going to happen.

"My personal view is that we will never have it no matter how many years go by.

"However, I would love to be proved wrong and I would love to have a serious dialogue with those that think we can.

"I would also love to be positive and enthusiastic in supporting the notion of it but it is simply my sense of realism that suggests it is not possible."



Maister has not given up all hope though.

The former international hockey player, who was part of the New Zealand gold medal-winning team at the Montreal 1976 Games, sits on the IOC Bid Evaluation Commission and will be part of the team in place to assess bid material ahead of the selection of the host city for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

He revealed that such a role might make him reconsider his current stance on a new 2022 Winter Olympics bid.

Maister said: "In my role on IOC Bid Evaluation Committee [sic] that is due to visit Annecy, Pyeongchang and Munich - the cities campaigning for the 2018 Olympics and Paralympics - I am sure I will get a great insight into bidding processes and expectations for countries which might allow me to better answer the question on New Zealand's Olympic potential after that."

In addition, Maister was last month appointed to the newly-established Entourage Commission at the IOC to address matters relating to the relationship between athletes and their coaches, agents and other support staff.

The Commission is chaired by IOC Executive Board member and Olympic pole vault champion Sergey Bubka and includes Sir Clive Woodward, the current director of elite performance at the British Olympic Association, Ireland's Pat McQuaid, the President of the UCI, and American gold medal-winning ice hockey player Angela Ruggiero.

Maister said: "The Entourage Commission is a very exciting thing to be a part of.

"You might argue that it is a bit idealistic but I think that is what the Olympic Movement is about.

"It was born out of an ideal, so we hope we can do some good for the athletes and hopefully help establish the realistic support that they should get in today's world of professional sport."

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