A bid from Australia to host the Summer Olympics for the third time would have a "great chance" of winning what he hoped would be a hotly-contested bidding process, Olympic chief Thomas Bach said on Wednesday.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) early this month offered its backing to a prospective bid for the 2028 Olympics by the mayors of South-East Queensland, centred on the city of Brisbane.
Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said he had met Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott earlier in the day and discussed a future bid to follow the success of the Melbourne Games in 1956 and Sydney in 2000.
"A bid from Australia would enjoy a lot of sympathy and would have a great chance of winning," he told a news conference.
"This is for 2028 and it is a long way away and I told him I hoped Australia would face a tough competition to host the Games.
"Because this is what Australians enjoy, a great competition and then perhaps to win."
The Olympics will be held in Brazil for the first time next year, while Tokyo will host the Summer Games for the second time in 2020.
