INTERVIEW-UK minister warns against "rich man's" Olympics

* UK minister would like to see developing nation host Games

* "Not the time to play safe" for 2016 bidding nations

By Avril Ormsby

LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The British minister in charge of the 2012 Olympics said she would like to see an emerging nation such as India or South Africa host the Olympic Games to dispel perceptions of the Games as being a "rich man's club".

Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said retaining the Games as a global movement was more important than bankrolling its "glitz and glamour" to the tune of untold billions of pounds.

Countries that have already felt excluded will only feel more isolated by the impact of the worldwide recession, losing out on the "irreplaceable premium" the Games provides, she said in an interview with Reuters.

The cost of the London Olympics has spiralled from an initial estimate of 2.4 billion pounds ($3.97 billion) to 9.3 billion pounds, but it has accelerated the regeneration of a previously rundown area of east London by 30 years, Jowell said.

"The global economic downturn has only exposed the risk of the Olympics being viewed as a 'rich man's club' -- prohibitively expensive to host for all but the very richest nations," she said.

The minister said the cost of staging an Olympics should be realistic, if the spirit of the movement is to be kept "alive and relevant".

Jowell did not say the Olympics had become too expensive "because there is no benchmark", but said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had to recognise the different levels of affordability of cities around the world.

"I hope that in the next 20 years you could look to South Africa hosting the Olympics, you could look to India hosting the Olympics, and depending on the outcome on Oct. 2 you may have South America hosting the Olympics, we have to see, but these are very important ambitions to keep alive," she said.

Rio de Janeiro is one of four cities bidding to host the 2016 Games along with Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo. The decision will be announced in Copenhagen on Oct. 2.

2016 BIDDERS "MUST LET RIP"

Jowell told the bidding nations they must "let their passions rip", if they want to win.

London overcame favourite Paris in 2005 with the promise of a lasting sporting and economic legacy.

"This is not a moment to play safe," she advised. "You win if you inspire the members of the IOC and give them ideas and a story about what the Games can do which is quite different from anything which has ever gone before."

Since winning, the world has experienced near financial and economic meltdown.

Despite spending up to 9.3 billion pounds, the Olympics could yet be known as the austerity Games. Plans to build temporary venues for sports such as fencing and volleyball have been scrapped and existing locations used instead.

The government has had to step in with taxpayers' money to bail out the 1 billion pound athletes' village and 330 million pound International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre after the planned private sector partners struggled to secure funding in the credit crunch.

Jowell said the recession had strengthened the 2012 vision because it had become "much more an economic story than simply a sporting story" with an 8 billion pound shot in the arm of UK plc through construction contracts, training and apprenticeships.

Proposed public spending cuts, necessary to reduce the country's record deficit, will not impact on the budget or sports funding, she said.

"It would be an act of folly to start interfering with the Olympic budget at this stage," she said.

But concerns remain among opposition lawmakers about elements of the Olympic Park legacy including the main stadium and broadcast and press facilities.

No anchor tenant has been announced for the 547 million pound main Olympic stadium after options to house a Premier League soccer club or using it as a possible venue in the 2018 World Cup bid were rejected.

"This is not going to be a white elephant," Jowell said.

"It is going to be a vibrant hub for sport and commerce that the rest of the country will want to visit."

(Editing by John Mehaffey; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)