German International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president Thomas Bach on Thursday stayed tight-lipped about his supposed ambition to run for the IOC top job, DPA reported.
In a media interview published Thursday, IOC president Jacques Rogge told German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) that "everyone expects him (Bach) to run" for the presidency after Rogge's final term expires in 2013.
Bach said it was an honour both for him and the German sport "to be considered qualified for the assignment."
However, when he was re-elected as IOC vice-president in 2006, he pledged to support Rogge, Bach, 56, told German Press Agency dpa on the sidelines of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games.
"That prohibits any speculation," he said.
Bach, an Olympic fencing champion of 1976 and head of Germany's Olympic Committee, was IOC vice-president 2000-2004 and elected into that position again in 2006.
He is yet to announce whether he will seek the IOC presidency.