On their last night in the Big Apple, members of the International Olympic Committee’s evaluation commission spoke out for the first time about the city’s bid for the 2012 Olympics and their belief a deal will be struck for a stadium on the West Side.

“For us it is important to have the stadium,” the chairwoman of the 13-member commission, Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco, said at a press conference yesterday. “We trust that between now and the end of March or even July an agreement will get done.”

The city was negotiating with the Jets to build a stadium over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s rail yards on the West Side. According to the deal, the Jets would pay $800 million for the stadium, while the city and state each dole out $300 million for a platform over the rail yards and a retractable roof over the stadium, to be known officially as the New York Sports and Convention Center. The stadium would also serve as convention space and as the Olympic stadium should New York City be selected as host of the 2012 games. That deal was put on hold when the MTA, which the Jets had offered $100 million for development rights over the rail yards, opened the site to competitive bidding after Madison Square Garden offered $600 million for the rights. The Garden has opposed the Jets stadium and wants to build a housing complex over the rail yards. Its offer would be reduced by the cost of building the platform.

Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, who founded NYC2012 – the group overseeing the city’s bid for the Olympic Games – and Mayor Bloomberg have said they must clinch a deal for the Jets stadium before the full Olympic committee votes on a host city July 6. If not, New York will lose any chance at being picked for the 2012 games, they said.

While Mr. Bloomberg sat nodding appreciatively in the audience, across from where Ms. El Moutawakel was positioned on a dais, the commission toed the city’s line.

Calling Mr. Bloomberg “a winner, and his team a winning team,” Ms. Moutawakel – who in 1984 became the first woman from an Islamic nation to win an Olympic medal – said of the contentious stadium plan, “We are following it very closely. Mr. Mayor is here with us, and the whole team is behind this bid.”

The commission also said NYC2012 officials did not present them with a backup stadium plan should the Jets proposal fall through.

“We don’t need a backup stadium. And hopefully it will come to an agreement, as I’ve said,” Ms. El Moutawakel told the press.

The task of the evaluation commission is to visit the five cities vying for the 2012 games, including Madrid, London, Paris, and Moscow, and write a technical report and a risk-assessment report of the various bids.

The Olympic Games executive director, Gilbert Felli, said NYC2012 officials had provided “sufficient assurances and guarantees” for the commission to write its risk-assessment report and for the International Olympic Committee to decide whether the questions hanging over the stadium pose too great a risk.

“It is up to the IOC to take the risk,” he said.

The evaluation commission “doesn’t make decisions or rankings, only a technical report and a risk assessment to help the IOC make a decision,” Ms. El Moutawakel said.

The issue of a stadium is more important for the 2012 bid than in prior bids because of changes to the Olympic committee’s policies, Mr. Felli said. “The IOC has improved a lot, and the process has changed a lot since the year 2000,” he said, adding that it was now important for a bid city to secure a stadium.

“Of course we would like to see a stadium,” Ms. El Moutawakel said.

The best part of New York City’s bid is the “high caliber of the infrastructure,” such as Madison Square Garden – where the Olympic basketball tournament would be played – and the facilities at Flushing Meadows, the chairwoman said.

“Existing infrastructure is something that is very important to us and even the proposed venues are of a high quality also,” she said.

As for whether the commission felt support from the White House, with President Bush failing to make an appearance while the other bid cities rolled out royalty and heads of state, Ms. El Moutawakel answered with a definitive “Yes.”

The commission also said it felt enthusiasm from the crowds, including the many people who welcomed them at the airport when they arrived Sunday.

“We felt the enthusiasm, we felt the warmth everywhere we went,” Ms. El Moutawakel said. “We felt the passion and love for sports, and we must thank the people of New York for that.”

She was also a big fan of “The Gates,” the installation by the artist Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, in Central Park. They are “beautiful, beautiful,” the Moroccan said, adding, “I thank Jeanne-Claude who was born in Casablanca.” Ms. El Moutawakel is also from Casablanca.

The commission departs this morning and heads to Paris. After spending a few days exploring the Paris bid, they are to continue to Moscow to do the same. The commission will then commence writing its report, to be published roughly one month before the International Olympic Committee’s vote.