International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge predicted on Thursday a tight race next month for the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics and said all three bids were of a very high quality.

Russia's Sochi, South Korea's Pyeongchang and the Austrian city of Salzburg are vying to host the Games with a decision due on July 4 during an IOC Session in Guatemala.

"I suppose it will be very close. I expect it to be as close as in Singapore (for the 2012 Games vote)," Rogge told reporters during a teleconference.

"What really makes the difference is the confidence they (IOC members) have in the people. The human factor will make the difference in the bids."

All three bids have strong political backing with the Russian and South Korean presidents as well as Austria's chancellor travelling to Guatemala to push their city's bids.

While local support for Pyeongchang and Sochi is high, Salzburg's bid seems to enjoy a lower percentage of backing at home, an issue also raised by a recent IOC evaluation report.

Rogge said that was an issue for IOC members to evaluate prior to the vote but said opinion poll results tended to change.

"This is a cyclical issue. Opinion polls are fluctuating.

TORCH DISPUTE

Rogge also threw his weight behind plans by the Beijing 2008 Games organising committee for the torch relay that includes a stop in Taiwan before heading for Hong Kong.

Self-governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own, has called China's linking of them to Hong Kong an attempt to include the island in the domestic relay route and has rejected the plan. Beijing has accused Taiwan of betrayal.

Rogge said the torch relay was a matter for the Beijing Games organisers (BOCOG).

"Decisions are not finalised. But this is something that the IOC will not intervene. The torch relay is decided by BOCOG. This is their call."

"We have said very clearly that we agree with the route as proposed by BOCOG," Rogge said.

Taiwan is referred to as "Chinese Taipei" in Olympic circles, a compromise that was reached decades ago to allow the return of China to the sporting movement.

China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has vowed to bring the island back under mainland rule, by force if necessary.