Munich 2018
Join our Festival of Friendship
Munich 2018
Munich 2018 is bidding to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018. Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and KÜnigssee would offer the Olympic Movement a celebratory experience on an unprecedented scale, thanks to a proud heritage and expertise in staging international winter sports events. Bavaria’s millions of ardent, knowledgeable fans will create an incredible festival atmosphere. Munich hopes to welcome the world to our Festival of Friendship in 2018!
Join our Festival of Friendship
The City of Munich offers an incredible experience. Every year, millions of people travel from far and wide to take in its stunning royal and modern architecture, its vibrant neighbourhoods and parks, and enjoy its worldclass hotels, restaurants, shopping, entertainment, sport and culture.
The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany led to public celebration that captured the imagination of the world and created an atmosphere that no athlete or fan will ever forget. Munich would do the same for the Winter Games, filling the stadiums and streets with a magical atmosphere.
www.muenchen2018.org
‘Few places in the world can match the winter sports traditions that Munich and Bavaria offer to the Olympic and Paralympic Movements. For the athletes of 2018 and the entire sport’s family, our Festival of Friendship promises a Winter Games experience unlike any other.’ Katarina Witt
The Youth Festival includes a street festival and fan zone that combine an inviting mix of culture, sport and entertainment. Munich plans to reach out to young people and reignite their passion for winter sports by offering them greater access to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Munich 2018
Join our Festiva
Munich 2018 is bidding to host the Olympi Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and König a celebratory experience on an unpreceden expertise in staging international winter sp knowledgeable fans will create an incredib welcome the world to our Festival of Friend
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al of Friendship
ic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018. gssee would offer the Olympic Movement nted scale, thanks to a proud heritage and ports events. Bavaria’s millions of ardent, ble festival atmosphere. Munich hopes to dship in 2018!
Find the perfect match UK Trade & Investment can connect your organising committee or sporting federation to world leading UK suppliers
UK Trade & Investment is the government’s organisation responsible for supporting UK companies trading internationally and those overseas businesses seeking to set up or expand in the UK. If you are looking for UK partners, goods or services in the sports events sector, UK Trade & Investment can help. Its wide network of international specialists and UK-based companies will help make your project a success.
Speak to us today at stand 25
For more information, contact Jason Goddard, Deputy Head, Global Sports Projects Team on +44 (0)20 7215 4394 or jason.goddard@ukti.gsi.gov.uk
www.ukti.gov.uk
Published: April 2011 by Dunsar Media Company Limited Editor: Duncan Mackay Commercial Director: Sarah Bowron Design: www.ilike-creative.co.uk Pictures: Getty Images and iphoto Print: www.csfprint.com Dunsar Media Company Limited C222 MKTWO Business Centre 1-9 Barton Road Bletchley Milton Keynes MK2 3HU United Kingdom +44 (0)1908 263387 jane.rees@insidethegames.biz www.insidethegames.biz No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without prior written permission of the publisher. Data is published in good faith and is the best information possessed by Dunsar Media Company Limited at the stated date of publication. The publisher cannot accept any liability for errors or omissions, however caused. Errors brought to the attention of the publisher and verified to the satisfaction of the publisher will be corrected in future editions, if any. Š and Database Right 2011 Dunsar Media Company Limited
Contents Editorial
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Duncan Mackay
The Bid Process: Place Your Bids
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Russia: Risky Business
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Commonwealth Games 2018: David v Goliath
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London 2012: Pride and Joy
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2018 Winter Olympics: Tough Choices
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Paralympics: Money Spinners
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Brazil: Rising Star
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Qatar 2022: Masterstroke
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Dunsar Media Company Limited: Information
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London Calling
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David Owen
Andrew Warshaw and Duncan Mackay
Duncan Mackay
Mike Rowbottom
Duncan Mackay Tom Degun
Duncan Mackay
Andrew Warshaw
Sarah Bowron
Mike Rowbottom
All rights reserved.
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THIS IS MAJLINDA KELMENDI SHE IS THE EUROPEAN CHAMPION IN JUDO IN HER CATEGORY AND IS CURRENTLY THE FIFTH IN THE WORLD IN OLYMPIC RANKINGS.
BUT SHE IS PROHIBITED FROM TAKING PART IN THE LONDON 2012 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES. Majlinda and thousands of other athletes from Kosovo cannot show their talents to the world, because of politics that keep blocking their participation in international competitions. But politics should have no place in sports. It should not crush the dreams of Kosovo's young people. They, too, should have the right and the opportunity to compete in international arenas. They have a lot to show and prove to the world. By granting equal membership to Kosovo's sports federations in international associations, you will grant our young people hope, chance and purpose. Until then, Majlinda and thousands of other Kosovo athletes remain waiting for your help. Please, help us help them realize their dream. Let them come to 'London 2012'. Be sure, they will not let you down. Thank you!
For more information, please visit:
WWW.NOC-KOSOVO.COM Supported by: MINISTRIY OF CULTURE, YOUTH AND SPORTS
DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES
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ou are holding a little piece of history in your hands. Welcome to the first ever printed publication from Dunsar Media Company Limited, the publishers of insidethegames, insideworldfootball and insideworldparasport. Our websites have established themselves as the market leaders and we have applied the same high production values to this brochure as we do them. The result is an unbeatable guide to the global major events business written by our team of top journalists. Between us we have decades of experience of working on major events, particularly when it comes to bidding - a Byzantine world which is worth billions of dollars each year. We have covered every bid race for the Olympics and World Cup since Atlanta was controversially awarded the 1996 Games more than 20 years ago. I worked at the Guardian and Observer for 17 years and in 2004 was voted Britain’s Sports Journalist of the Year for my coverage of the Olympics in Athens that year. I have travelled the world to bring you the latest on the race to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics and the Commonwealth Games, that are also due to be staged that year. I have also been to Rio de Janeiro to see how things are going there as Brazil prepares to
host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics and Paralympics. Other contributors to this brochure include David Owen, the former sports editor of the Financial Times who has also worked for newspapers in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He has written an unparalleled guide to bidding and how it has evolved into its own multi-billion dollar industry. Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain’s most talented sportswriters, has covered the last five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and the Guardian. He is now insidethegames’ chief feature writer and has brought his own unique perspective to preparations for London 2012. Andrew Warshaw is one of the best known writers in British football and has an unrivalled knowledge of the sport’s politics. It was while he was editor at the European newspaper that they broke the story on the Bosman ruling which has transformed the sport. He has written about the successful
bids from Russia and Qatar to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments. We have also not forgotten that disability sport is playing an increasingly important role in bidding. Dunsar Media Company Limited run the only commercial Paralympic website and Tom Degun, the reporter on insideworldparasport, has investigated whether it is financially viable to host events for disabled athletes. This brochure is another important milestone in insidethegames’ evolution. We launched in October 2005 shortly after London was awarded the Olympics and Paralympics and have now established ourselves as the market leaders in news, not just about 2012, but the wider Olympic Movement and sports politics. Unlike other websites, we are always free and always independent. If you like what you have read, why don’t you sign up for our free daily e-alerts at www.insidethegames. biz or www.insideworldfootball.biz. Duncan Mackay April 2011
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Place your bids...
Fancy hosting the Olympic Games? You’ll need at least $60 million just to throw your hat in the ring. Insidethegames’ and insideworldfootball’s chief columnist David Owen acknowledges the astonishing rise of the sports event bidding industry.
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n 1978, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 1984 Olympic Games to Los Angeles, it had little choice in the matter. The Californian city had beaten off competition from its domestic rival, New York, while the chances of a non-US bidder entering the fray melted away with the collapse of the Shah’s regime in Tehran. What a contrast with the situation 32 years later in Zurich, where representatives of 11 countries - some among the most powerful on earth - and nine bidders gathered last December to fight out the final decisive moments of the battles to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. It is safe to say that bidding to stage international sports events has been one of the world’s most high profile growth industries in the past two or three decades. And it is not just the Olympic Games and the football World Cup - the two cherries at the top of the cake - that arouse interest. The contest for another football competition,
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the 2016 European Championship, which also climaxed last year, produced a fascinating contest, pitting ‘new kids on the block’ Turkey against two of the most traditional west European footballing powers, Italy and France. No fewer than five European countries are currently bidding to host golf’s Ryder Cup in 2018. The way that the Formula One motorracing calendar has been transformed in recent years, with events in the likes of Abu Dhabi, China and Singapore, is a reflection of how widespread interest in staging a Grand Prix now is. FIFA’s ruling Executive Committee recently decided on the hosts of as many as eight competitions at a single meeting. Why this surge of interest in hosting flagship events, be they multi-sport competitions like the Olympic Games or single-sport championships like the FIFA World Cup? In the case of the Olympics, it is in large part because the IOC has, in recent times, developed a viable financial model based on its
renowned TOP global sponsorship programme and the escalation in TV rights fees triggered by the voracious appetite for content that has resulted from growing global prosperity and ceaseless technological advances. This means that bidders can take advantage of a unique opportunity to put their city and country in the world’s shop window, while getting a substantial subsidy for the cost of putting on the show and - with clever management - improving civic amenities in a way that provides enduring benefits to many of their citizens. Once the competitions at the top of the world’s sporting tree have established a reputation as events which leading cities and powerful governments will knock spots off each other to host, it is easy to appreciate how a sort of “trickle-down” effect can, in turn, raise the level of interest in bidding for second- and third-tier sports properties. Why? Because cities and countries know that one of the best ways of demonstrating their
DAVID OWEN CHIEF COLUMNIST, INSIDETHEGAMES
Centre: IOC President Jacques Rogge (left) shakes hands with Chairman of London 2012 and former Olympian Sebastian Coe (right) after the signature of the host city contract with the British capital at the Raffle City Convention Centre in Singapore July 6, 2005. Photo: Eric Feferberg/AFP/ Getty Images Top left: International Olympic Committee members, including Britain’s Princess Anne (right), listen as U.S. President Barack Obama makes a presentation in support of Chicago as the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games on October 2, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo: Charles DharapakPool/Getty Images) Bottom Left: The Indian Commonwealth Games Mascot, Shera, waves farewell to the crowd during the Closing Ceremony for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on October 14, 2010 in Delhi, India. Photo: Daniel Berehulak/ Getty Images
readiness to host a World Cup or an Olympic Games is by competently staging a series of smaller or less widely followed competitions. In March 2010, I went to Doha for an impeccably-staged world indoor athletics championships; nine months later, Qatar won the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Rio de Janeiro’s successful staging of the 2007 Pan American Games was a key plank in the Brazilian city’s argument that it was ready to host the 2016 Olympics. New Delhi’s hosting of last year’s Commonwealth Games is widely seen as an indication of an appetite in the world’s second-most populous country to stage the Olympics. Moreover, many of the countries that have staged a World Cup or an Olympic Games in recent years will tend subsequently to keep bidding for smaller events. Why? Because those competitions will have endowed them with a range of high-calibre sports facilities that need to be kept busy. Beijing, for example, last year followed up
its staging of the 2008 Olympics by hosting the inaugural SportAccord World Combat Games. In 2015, the Chinese city will stage the World Athletics Championships at the Bird’s Nest stadium that has taken its place as one of the world’s best-known sports facilities. This rampant appetite among the world’s great cities for staging events has had two key consequences. First, the process of bidding is becoming ever more complex and all-consuming, both because of the pressures of competition and the increasingly onerous requirements of competition owners who can afford to be picky. Bidders for the Olympic Games must negotiate a series of testing hurdles requiring them to submit detailed bid documents to Lausanne in accordance with a fixed timetable; to be grilled by visiting Olympic ‘inspectors’, who report back on their findings to the 100plus IOC members who constitute the electorate that will actually make the hosting decision; and to marshal their countries’ key decision-
makers from the government down to make a coherent case for their candidacy if they are to stand a chance of winning. FIFA has started moving down the same road, although that titanic contest for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups was not seen as a complete success to put it mildly. This means of course that the process of bidding is also becoming ever more expensive, at least for those who want to be seen as serious contenders. Asked how much you would need to budget if you wanted to put together a convincing bid for the Summer Olympics, Michael Payne, the former IOC marketing director whose book, Olympic Turnaround, remains a required text for anyone with a serious interest in the business behind the Olympic Games, replies: “You would get no change out of $60 million.” The decisive moments at the end of the most prominent bidding contests - the final presentations made by bidders and then the all-important votes - have become global media
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LONDON 2012 AD
continued from page 11 events in their own right, with thousands of presenters, technicians and journalists drawn to them and crowds gathering at public meeting-places in the main cities involved to await the result. The second important consequence of the white-hot competition among bidders to host the biggest tournaments is the development of a sizeable sports-event bidding industry. This consists of consultants who make it their business to know every last detail of the bidding rules and regulations of the leading sports bodies, as well as what makes the top decision-makers within those organisations tick. The pressure to stand out from the crowd and the presence of this army of specialists who can help bidders achieve this in the right way - has meant that, since the landmark presentation in Singapore in 2005 that helped London to win the right to stage the 2012 Olympic Games against probably the strongest field of bidders ever assembled, it has become almost impossible to predict what final presentations will consist of. Barack Obama, the most powerful man in the world, turned up in Copenhagen in 2009 to put his weight behind Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics; yet the Windy City lost. Vladimir Putin, perhaps the second most powerful, made a point of staying away from the final presentation of Russia’s 2018 World Cup bid last year in Zurich; and Russia won. The star of the final presentation for the bid that beat Chicago - Rio 2016 - was not Pelé or Lula, but the Governor of the Brazilian Central Bank. The nine World Cup presentations last December in Zurich featured, among other diverse wonders, Bill Clinton, the former US President, a kleptomaniac animated kangaroo and an old photograph of Sony boss Sir Howard Stringer in the 1962 Merton College team. “I was an illegal teenage footballer,” the industrialist confessed. Though the content might include just about anything, the style of presentations throughout the bid process must be uncompromisingly slick and professional with core bid officials primed to answer any questions that might arise. “The IOC’s evaluation process is a far more rigorous exercise than it was 10-12 years ago,” Payne says. “[Bidders] have to go through dummy rehearsals with dummy Commissions to get their acts together.” Will competition to land hosting rights for sports competitions remain as hot as it has been in recent years? Well, the fact that the highly competitive battle for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups took
place in the teeth of a global economic crisis suggests it will - at least while sport retains its ability to attract massive global audiences to TV channels facing up to the fickleness of viewers increasingly attuned to the possibilities opened up by technologies enabling more and more of us to watch exactly what we want at a time and place of our own choosing. There have equally, though, been one or two gentle warning signs. The field for the current race for the 2018 Winter Olympics has been only three-strong. This compares with seven initial entrants in the contest for the 2014 Winter Games won by Sochi and eight for the 2010 event held in Vancouver. Only two candidates - Australia’s Gold Coast and Hambantota of Sri Lanka - are bidding for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. This should be enough to ward off complacency. It is barely a generation, as we have seen, since LA waltzed off with the Olympic Games almost unchallenged. It might seem unthinkable now, but if sports property owners don’t take pains to keep their properties fresh and relevant, there is no reason on earth why the pendulum should not swing back towards those dark days.
Top: Fernando Alonso (right) of Spain and Ferrari leads from Sebastian Vettel (left) of Germany and Red Bull Racing into turn one at the start of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 26, 2010 in Singapore. Photo: Ker Robertson/Getty Images Above left: Indian labourers work to install banners advertising the upcoming Commonwealth Games in front of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on September 25, 2010 in New Delhi, India. Photo: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images Above right: Jessica Ennis of Great Britain competes in the Womens Pentathlon Long Jump during Day 2 of the IAAF World Indoor Championships at the Aspire Dome on March 13, 2010 in Doha. Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
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Risky
Business
Vladimir Putin’s daring strategy paid off as Russia secured the 2018 World Cup, but insideworldfootball’s chief football writer Andrew Warshaw says the real challenge is only just beginning as the country tries to deliver that event plus the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics
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hen Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin decided not to attend the ballot for the 2018 World Cup, it was a decision most observers assumed stemmed from a sense that support for his country among FIFA’s voting members was ebbing away. How wrong that perception was. Five hours after Russia’s landslide victory by 13 votes to seven, when all the other bidding candidates had long departed the cavernous Messe Zurich with their heads bowed in disappointment, the charismatic Putin finally appeared before the world’s media and worked the room as only he can. You kind of knew that he was not going to miss out on his country being the first from Eastern Europe to be granted the tournament. But it was a daring strategy just the same, a calculated move designed to give FIFA members the chance to make up their minds without being lobbied and cajoled by arguably the world’s second most powerful head of state following a spate of recent cor-
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ruption allegations. Putin himself admitted it was a “complicat ed” decision, one which could have backfired badly. “My colleagues were a bit upset and tried to persuade me but I explained my reasons to them - and I did the right thing,” he explained. Insisting that Russia had won the bid fair and square, Putin, who directed questions from the floor without any assistance from a single aide, conceded it had been a risk remaining back home until victory had been assured - but one worth taking. Unlike many past World Cup votes, Russia’s win was not the result of persuasive up-allnight private conversations but of legwork carried out earlier in the campaign away from the glare of publicity. Their final presentation was far from inspirational yet they seemed to know that FIFA President Joseph Blatter and a stack of Executive Committee members would buy the argument that taking the World Cup to virgin territory was right for FIFA and right
for the game. “We based our bid on the fact that it corresponded to the FIFA philosophy to engage new territories and new countries,” said Putin tellingly. Even he, however, was surprised victory was achieved so fast. “I always thought we could win but we never expected we could win in the second round,” he said. Who voted for whom has been a constant source of conjecture ever since the December 2 ballot in Zurich but most of those present believe the three-strong bloc vote of CONCACAF went the same way as Blatter and a majority of European members. But now comes the hard part. Russia has promised to deliver, but 13 new stadiums need to be built over the next seven years and air, rail and road transport significantly upgraded. “You can take my word for it that the 2018 World Cup in Russia will be up to the highest standards,” said Putin. “New modern stadiums and facilities will be built in time and to
ANDREW WARSHAW CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER, INSIDEWORLDFOOTBALL
Left: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks to the media after winning the 2018 bid during the FIFA World Cup 2018 & 2022 Host Countries Announcement at the Messe Conference Centre on December 2, 2010 in Zurich, Switzerland. Photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Below: A Russian woman prepares a display of merchandise promoting the Russian Black Sea ski resort of Sochi that will host the 2014 Winter Olympics, at the Hudson’s Bay department store in downtown Vancouver on February 7, 2010. Photo: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images Right: Performers from Russia invite everybody to the Sochi games in 2014 during the Closing Ceremony on Day 10 of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Paralympics at Whistler Medals Plaza on March 21, 2010 in Whistler, Canada Photo: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
perfection.” With its successful 2018 World Cup bid, Russia has now scored a hat-trick of big sporting events, having already bagged the 2014 Winter Olympics and a Formula One grand prix in the same year. Hosting the biggest football jamboree in the world will bring serious economic benefit despite the tens of billions of dollars that will have to be spent bringing infrastructure up to scratch. FIFA will doubtless be reassured by the relentless progress Sochi has been making since it was awarded the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in 2007, again following the intervention of Putin in the final bid process. Jean-Claude Killy, the triple Olympic gold medallist, who is in charge of overseeing the preparations in Sochi for the International Olympic Committee has been amazed by what he has witnessed. “We’ve come here almost every month and the progress we’ve seen is unbelievable,” he said earlier this year. “I have to say that never before were the Games awarded to a coun-
try where 85 percent of the infrastructure had to be built from scratch, so this [progress] must be considered as the greatest achievement in the history of the Olympic Movement. “Now we have 40 per cent of the construction completed and by the end of this year it will be 70 percent completed.” Killy said the 2014 Olympics would leave a long-lasting legacy for the whole region. “The image, the effects of these Games - the roads, tunnels or sewerage system for example - will be felt for the next 100 years.” But, for now, the ordinary Russian is just excited at the prospect of two of the biggest events in world sport coming to their country in the next few years. On a visit to the country a few weeks before the World Cup vote, the enthusiasm was almost tangible. Not only in the major cities like Moscow and St Petersburg but also in places like the Black Sea resort of Sochi where little-known FC Zhemchuzhina-Sochi will move into the $250 million venue being
built as the main stadium for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. We visited the 10,000-seater ground currently occupied by the club, a world away from the Olympic Stadium where it will eventually relocate. The new owner and President is former ice hockey player Dmitry Yakushev who has grand ambitions for a club only founded in 1991 and which went bankrupt 12 years later before being relaunched in 2007 under the current name. This is a classic example of the type of legacy the Russians have promised to provide, boosting fan interest in less obvious football-friendly environments in contrast to the English Premier League whose global popularity has reached saturation point and might well have worked against the English bid to host the World Cup in 2018. The Russians know there is an incredible amount of work to do to be ready on time but are determined to deliver 16 stadiums in 13 cities. The single biggest project - at a cost of €500
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A Unique Event for Russia and the World
www.eventica.co.uk | +44 (0)20 7183 2560 | info@eventica.co.uk
continued from page 15 million – is on Krestovsky Island in Saint Petersburg, the Venice of the north, which is scheduled to host a World Cup semi-final in a 69,500-seat stadium with a moveable roof and retractable pitch. The city’s head of sport, Vyatcheslav Chasov, is both excited and apprehensive. “We have a long way to run but we are already deep in the process of being prepared for the World Cup,” he said. “Construction of the new stadium is on its way. Next year we start construction of a new airport.” The venue will be the new home of Zenit Saint Petersburg from 2012, built on the site of the former 75,000-capacity Keirov Stadium that was pulled down three years ago. The retractable roof will allow for two removable and simultaneously exchangeable pitches in order to enhance grass growth as Russia switches back in 2012 to a standard autumn-to-spring western-style season. As far as visiting football fans are concerned, they will be provided with free transport for the entirety of their stay – not just on match days. Bid chief executive officer Alexei Sorokin, the public face of the 2018 campaign during months of intense lobbying, said Russia was keen to show its new, modern face. “Every holder of a ticket or a ticket certificate will be able to enter the country without a visa,” he pledges. One criticism of Russia is that the country is simply too sparse to stage the World Cup. This has been addressed, partially at least, by the plan to group host cities in clusters. That said, it will still be up to FIFA to provide a schedule which doesn’t send teams from
one side of the country to the other and back again during the group phase. With FIFA having plumped for an untapped yet bold, vibrant and economically powerful region rather than for a candidate that represents the safest option for 2018, the onus is now on the Russians to make sure they press all the right buttons. Allegations of racism and corruption continue to fester in the background but the country’s most powerful and outspoken sports administrator went as far as he could in explaining why England, plus Spain/Portugal and underdogs Holland/Belgium, did not deserve 2018 when the vote took place on December 2. “An event of this scale has never been in eastern Europe,” said Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s FIFA Executive Committee member. “It’s the duty of football to discover new territories. It must give new countries a chance. Otherwise global football will be reduced to countries like Britain, France and Germany. That might be the easy option but perhaps it wouldn’t be right. “FIFA has a stated goal of disseminating its culture across the world. A World Cup in Russia would leave a greater legacy here than elsewhere.”
Top Left: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev (L-R) are seen on a ski lift during an informal meeting on the ski slopes of Krasnaya Polyana outside the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi Above left: Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov (R) poses with the World Cup trophy next to FIFA President Joseph Blatter after the official announcement that Russia will host the 2018 World Cup on December 2, 2010 at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich Photo: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images Above: People walk through the tunnel system along the combined rail and traffic road from Adler to the mountain resort Alpika-Servis, to be used at the 2014 Olympics near the Black Sea resort of Sochi Photo: Mikhail Mordasov/AFP/Getty Images
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David v
Goliath Tiny Hambantota is challenging Australia’s mighty Gold Coast for the right to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Duncan Mackay, editor of insidethegames, casts his expert eye over one of the biggest mismatches in bidding history.
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n paper, it is one of the biggest mismatches in bidding history. Tiny Hambantota, a coastal city in the south of Sri Lanka with a population of under 12,000 that was devastated by the 2004 tsunami, against the Gold Coast, the sixth most populous city in Australia and one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. Everyone was shocked last March when the deadline to bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games passed and, following expressions of interest from cities in several countries, including Kenya, Nigeria, New Zealand and South Africa, the only two that officially put themselves forward were Hambantota and the Gold Coast. While everyone had expected the Gold Coast
would launch a campaign to try to become the fifth Australian city to host the Games, no-one had predicted that Hambantota would attempt to become the first in Sri Lanka. The general early feeling about Hambantota’s bid was summed up by Ron Clarke, the former multi world-record holder who is now the Mayor of the Gold Coast. “They could be tough opponents, even though it must be hard to imagine they have the accommodation necessary or have the facilities,” he said a few days after their bid was announced. There was little evidence over the ensuing six months that Hambantota, which is 129 miles south of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo and was wrecked when 3,000 people died in the tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean in 2004, were capable of mounting a credible challenge, even missing an opportunity in October to address the 71 members of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) at its annual Assembly on the eve of the Games in New Delhi. The first signs that Hambantota should be taken seriously came last November when Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed the country’s Central Bank Governor
DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES
Centre: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse (right) and Sri Lankan sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamamge (left) unveil the emblem for the island’s bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games during a ceremony at his Temple Trees residence in Colombo on January 31, 2011. Photo Ishara S.Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images Left: Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast, with Mark Peters (far left) and Lamine Diack, President of the IAAF (second right). Photo courtesy of Gold Coast 2018
Ajith Nivard Cabraal to head its bid committee, which also included Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa and former Deputy Minister of Justice Dilan Perera. As a sign of intent it sent a powerful message to the Gold Coast and the rest of the world. Under Cabraal, who took over as the Governor of the Central Bank in 2006, Sri Lanka’s economy has undergone what has been described as an economic miracle. He has doubled Sri Lanka’s GDP, substantially brought down unemployment and reduced poverty in a country that has been ravaged by a civil war. Last year Sri Lanka was upgraded to the status of a middle income country by the International Monetary Fund. At the centre of Sri Lanka’s plans is the redevelopment of Hambantota, which was formerly an outpost for Britain when it had its Empire, but which is now increasingly becoming an important strategic shipping port less than 10 nautical miles north of the major east-west global shipping route across the Indian Ocean. Bidding for the Commonwealth Games fits into Sri Lanka’s master plan and could help accelerate even faster the growth there. The
tiny town has already hosted two matches in this year’s cricket World Cup after a purpose built stadium was completed in just 11 months. “The way we see it is that Hambantota is going to be the news story about Sri Lanka,” Cabraal told insidethegames in an exclusive interview. “We are building a new port, we are building a new international airport, and we are siting many industries there. We are transforming the entire south of the country. This is a fantastic opportunity we have to transform the whole country through Hambantota. “So it sits well in that mega plan to host a Games of this nature because that will give us additional focus to move forward with a timeline. In mega projects you can sometimes be very dedicated to a certain cause but unless you do have a really good timeline you don’t really get going. It’s like a wedding - it’s only when you fix a date that everybody starts working towards that. Until that, you just drift along. “If we get to host the Games it would give us a very clear timetable with deliverables and a list of times. It will give us discipline. We think it would be great to have an international event of this nature which will: A) put Sri Lanka on the international map; B) give us that discipline; and C) assist in the transformation of the city. We have commitment right from the top so we are very excited about it.” The Gold Coast claim that they have never underestimated Hambantota. “We have always considered Hambantota to be very strong contenders even before they appointed their bid committee and started making their intentions clear,” chief executive Mark Peters said. “We always knew they were going to be major contenders even when they were being written off by some so we are not surprised that they have a powerful bid committee in place. But we have always been focused on our own bid though and nothing will change there.” The centrepiece of the Gold Coast’s bid is the Carrara Stadium, which is already under
construction and due for completion later this year. Initially built to host Australian Rules football, the stadium will be transformed for the Commonwealth Games into the city’s premier sporting venue and upgraded to hold 40,000 spectators for the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field competitions. The problems suffered at last year’s Commonwealth Games in New Delhi have undoubtedly harmed Hambantota’s chances and there will be wariness about entrusting the event to an emerging nation again so soon. “Delhi taught us that you put the Commonwealth Games in locations where they can be successful,” said Peters. “I think that Delhi was a location that should have been able to put on a good Commonwealth Games but for a whole host of reasons, it didn’t quite happen as they would have liked. “I don’t think the Commonwealth Games are about taking a risk all the time and certainly the Gold Coast takes away the risk factor. We have passionate people who love watching sport that will fill the stadiums, we have friendly volunteers everywhere and we can attract television networks. They are all huge positives for our bid and perhaps give us an advantage “Melbourne in 2006 was a great Commonwealth Games and after Delhi, there is a strong argument that we need a great Games in 2018 to help restore the brand and win back the hearts and minds of both the big name athletes and the international sporting federations. “I am sure Glasgow will host a great Commonwealth Games in 2014; there is little doubt about that. But I think we need two, three or four great Commonwealths in succession to keep the brand right at the top where it should be and we feel we can definitely do that. “We proved it in Melbourne [in 2006] and also at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 so I think you are guaranteed a certain amount of safety with putting a major sporting event in the hands of Australia.”
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Pride joy and
The London 2012 Games will be a once-in-a-lifetime source of national pride, says Olympic medallist Roger Black, and insidethegames’ feature writer Mike Rowbottom agrees.
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oger Black is well used to Olympic environments. He was in Barcelona in 1992, and - glory be - he managed to steer himself clear of illness and injury four years later to earn silver in the 400 metres individual and relay events at the Atlanta Games. His latest Olympic context is rather different - a display booth at Earls Court Olympia, stuffed with ingenious interpretations of the two London 2012 mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville. But as he stands amidst the themed domino sets, pens, mini-sketching pads, and Cyclopic characters dressed as guardsmen, beefeaters, police officers and Olympic competitors, Black is operating to good effect once again. He assures a young lady with a microphone, and through her, listeners to BBC Radio5Live, that something special is on its way. “It’s coming,” he says. “We haven’t felt the full Olympic effect yet, but it will be here soon and as we get closer to the start the interest will start to get massive. The Games are almost certainly not going to be back again in England in our lifetime. Everyone needs to make sure they make the most of them, because they will be
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over very quickly.” You can feel urgency and enthusiasm radiating from the former one-lap runner. He knows, admittedly from a position which none but an elite have experienced, the thrill of the Games. Like thousands of others, I have driven regularly along the A12 in Stratford and seen a building site become an Olympic sight. The main Stadium has been there in outline for many months, a tad utilitarian, a world away from the intricate steel miracle of the Beijing Bird’s Nest stadium, but a central statement about London’s readiness to hold a Games which is deliberately eschewing any attempt to out-do the last in terms of magnificence. Magnificence was never what London 2012 was about. The idea, even before the economic downturn - a fine euphemism for banking criminality - was to host the Grounded Games, a Games with its focus on inspiring young people and leaving them tangible means of expressing that inspiration. That’s what an Olympic Games should be about. In the words of Pierre de Coubertin, who was responsible for internationalising and
establishing the modern Olympics: “Sport must be accessible to working class youth.” Or, as he also put it: “All sports for all people.” It is a fine aim. But as de Coubertin discovered, even at the first of the modern Olympic Games, at Athens in 1896, such sentiments are not always easy to translate into reality. Preparations for those Games were undermined by strong resistance on the part of French nationalists to the idea of including Germany - whose victory in the Franco-Prussian War a quarter of a century earlier had seen them annex Alsace-Lorraine. Germany then took offence and threatened not to take part until de Coubertin sent an emollient letter to the Kaiser. The waters roughened again, however, as the Greeks insisted that the Games should return to their spiritual home of Athens every four years. What would they have said about the Centenary Olympics going to the home of Coca Cola, I wonder?
MIKE ROWBOTTOM CHIEF FEATURE WRITER, INSIDETHEGAMES
Left: GB riders test out the new London 2012 velodrome Photo: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images Inset: Roger Black with Wenlock and Mandeville Right: The Olympic Stadium with wasteland in front Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Inset: West Ham players deliver their bid to take over the Olympic Stadium once the games are finished in 2012
De Coubertin got round this by promising the King of Greece that pan-Hellenic Games would instead be held in between Olympiads, although there is evidence that the King was not ultimately satisfied with this compromise. In the meantime, de Coubertin’s plans to engage the younger generation in polo, football and boxing at the first modern Olympic Games were frustrated. None of these events were held. In truth, there has been no modern Games which has escaped a welter of argument, recrimination, bad blood and controversy. Such are the pre-Games games. Athens 2004 was beset with serious concerns over whether the infrastructure would be ready in time. London’s last Olympics, in 1948, were effectively a rescue act for a Movement that had nowhere else to go in establishing itself again after the Second World War. The last Olympics in Beijing took place amidst serious concerns over the host nation’s position on basic human rights, a consideration which had played a part in their failure to secure the 2000 Olympics. And even those Olympics, which took place in Sydney and were generally recognised as being a triumph, had their shadow. There was compelling evidence that key votes had been swayed back in 1993 with last-minute deals of questionable integrity. And the build-up to the Games saw awkward questions raised about the way the Indigenous people of Australia had been treated and were continuing to be treated. And so to London 2012... The unveiling at St Pancras station of the first of the giant Olympic Rings that will soon be appearing on iconic London landmarks provided yet more incremental evidence of the impending Games. “The Olympic Rings are an iconic symbol, inspiring athletes and uniting people around the world,” said Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London organising committee and the man
who delivered the silver bullet back in 2005 that penetrated to the heart of the collective International Olympic Committee voters. If you split that bullet open, it contained a single key word: Youth. Six years on, the clarity and integrity of that message has been challenged by that most awkward of circumstances: life. Economic vicissitudes, and - frankly - political naivety - raised the prospect of school sports programmes effectively losing all funding. How bad would that look to the visiting Olympic countries and their IOC representatives who had been so swayed by the Singapore representations of Coe and his youthful cast of fellow presenters? The Coalition’s second thoughts on this matter have mollified the situation. But the suspicion remains that, once the Games have been and gone, funding for sport in school will be eroded. Coe’s vision stood in danger of becoming blurred to the point of disappearance by the recent intense debate over the future of the Olympic Stadium. Tottenham’s plan to take over the site and start all over again with a football stadium made sound financial sense. Principally for Tottenham. But what Lord Coe would probably describe as “the mood music” was following a very different tune. While it was to be expected that Lamine Diack, IOC member and president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, would feel strongly about the prospect of London’s promised athletics legacy being demolished to make way for the Super Spurs, the view he articulated - that, after the backsliding of the Labour government over staging the World Athletics Championships, Britain needed to show the rest of the sporting world it could keep its word - was powerful and persuasive. The decision taken by the Olympic Park Legacy Company to install West Ham in the
Stadium post-2012, thus guaranteeing the permanence of the athletics track - and you hope and assume such guarantees will be firmly written into the contract agreed with Messrs Gold and Sullivan - addressed the big picture. There remain a lot of awkward odd ends, however. Despite the brave noises being made by representatives of UK Athletics, who can now realistically hope to host the IAAF World Championships, albeit probably 14 years later than first envisaged, a 60,000-seater stadium will not be regularly thronged for athletics events. And for West Ham fans, whose view of their football at Upton Park has been so intimate that for many years there wasn’t even enough space behind the goals to accommodate proper stanchions, the view from the Stratford stands will be a more distant one, with the track interceding. That said, the remodelled Upton Park has already gone halfway towards that experience. It has not been the same frenzied cockpit since the main stand was erected. Older followers of football may recall a stadium that once stood where the current Wembley emporium now sits. By all accounts, occasions such as the Matthews Final of 1953 or England’s World Cup victory in 1966 managed to take place amidst some excitement despite the fact that they took place on a playing surface separated from the stands by a track used for athletics, dog racing and even speedway. West Ham 1, Tottenham 0 was the right result for the London 2012 organisers. And the controversy also had the effect, for good or ill, of raising the profile of the forthcoming Games. But the run-in to July 2012 will not be a smooth affair. The recent unveiling of the Olympic velodrome, which looks like sculpture from the A12, raised awkward, and relevant, accompanying questions about the delays and spiralling costs involved in constructing the aquatics venue. The ticketing programme, which has just begun to operate in earnest, has raised persistent questions over pricing, and confirmed suspicions in many quarters that, as in previous Olympics, the best seats in the house were always destined for those who, in the words of Roy Keane, “have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches”. It’s not perfect. It’s not going to be perfect. But London 2012 can and probably will be thrilling, memorable, and a source of pride.
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Toughchoices? choices? The International Olympic Committee has a tough decision over who hosts the 2018 Winter Games - stick with tried and trusted Annecy or Munich, or break new ground by opting for Pyeongchang? Duncan Mackay, editor of insidethegames, investigates.
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f a theme has emerged so far during the race to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics then it is that a decision has to be made whether to stick with the old order or redraw the Olympic map. In the one corner there is Annecy and Munich, firmly established as traditional winter resorts, while in the other there is Pyeongchang, a rapidly emerging new centre located about 120 miles east of the South
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Korean capital Seoul. All are bidding to be chosen as the host city when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meets to vote at its Session in Durban on July 6. Pyeongchang are proving to be formidable opponents as they seek to become only the third Asian city to host the Winter Olympics - and the first outside Japan. This is their third consecutive campaign to host the Games. In the vote for the 2010 Games they lost to
Vancouver by just three votes and then for 2014 they missed out by four votes to Sochi, whose support was boosted in the final few hours by the arrival of then-Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pyeongchang have an even more powerful bid on this occasion. Their plan is incredibly compact - all of their facilities are within a 35-minute bus ride of the main centre in Alpensia - and seven of the 13 venues are
DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES
Far left: Members of the IOC Evaluation Commission and the Munich 2018 Bid Committee joined young athletes in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the Olympic Ski Stadium, during a site visit to the proposed Munich 2018 Snow Park Photo courtesy Munich 2018 Left: The IOC Evaluation Commission and the Pyeongchang 2018 Bid Committee meeting children participating in the 2011 Dream Program. Photo courtesy Pyeongchang 2018
already there. It has been fascinating to watch the development of the region through its three Olympic bids. In 2003 when we visited we were shown empty fields and told this is where the venues would be. In 2007 we viewed the five-star hotel that will be the IOC’s, under construction. In 2011 we stayed in the hotel on the $1.5 billion Alpensia resort. They have made a series of pledges that, quite rightly, they are proud they have kept and expect to be rewarded for it. “Four years ago we did our presentations on empty fields but this time we were able to show them what we have built,” said former Gangwon Governor Kim Jin-sun, who is now a special ambassador for the bid. “This has showed that we keep our promises.” Another major factor in Pyeongchang’s bid is that it is backed by corporate Korea. Samsung, one of the Olympics’ leading worldwide TOP sponsors, is actively trying to drum up support for the campaign. Yang-Ho Cho, the chief executive and chairman of Pyeongchang 2018,
fulfils a similar role with Korean Air and has recruited many of the airline’s senior executives to work on the bid. Asia is an increasingly important market for sponsors with its growing youth market and the IOC is keen to demonstrate that they are truly a global organisation, one whose roots extend beyond just its traditional European home. But this relationship between the bid and business landed Pyeongchang in trouble last November when they were given an official warning by the IOC’s Ethics Commission over a sponsorship deal between Korean Air and the International Skating Union (ISU). The company signed a two-year sponsorship deal with the ISU, who are headed by Italian Ottavio Cinquanta, an IOC member considered a potentially influential figure in the vote for 2018. The affair was embarrassing but they recovered quickly from the affair and strengthened their position as favourites following the visit of the IOC’s Evaluation Commission to Pyeongchang. Thousands of local residents turned out on the streets to greet the special visitors, waving dozens of placards saying “Yes, PyeongChang,” and “PyeongChang 2018,” giving their full commitment to the city’s bid. The highlight of the IOC panel’s schedule came on the fifth day when the delegates visited Gangneung, approximately a 30-minute drive from Pyeongchang. When the IOC team walked into the pitch black Gangneung Indoor Ice Rink, music started. Then, the lights slowly came back on, as a choir made up of 2,018 local residents at the stand started to sing together ABBA’s “I Have a Dream”. Underneath, young skaters from some countries where winter sports are not available, including Kenya,
Mexico and Indonesia, were skating on the ice. Outside of South Korea, the biggest obstacle to Pyeongchang’s victory is perceived by many to be the difficult relationship with its neighbour. Pyeongchang is located only 50 kilometres from the North Korea border but it is a situation the South has lived with for 60 years now and is trying to turn into a positive in its bid. “I was thinking about the message of the Olympic Movement which holds the world together regardless of race, religion and politics,” South Korea’s Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik told insidethegames during the IOC visit in February. “In Korea we believe that bringing the 2018 Games to Pyeongchang would not only help promote winter sport here but improve relations on the Korean Peninsula and thus help promote peace and prosperity throughout the region.” Annecy is beautiful - with its stunning lake and wonderful French cuisine - but their bid is a long shot. They made a slow start and then, just as they were beginning to gather momentum, were rocked by the resignation of Edgar Grospiron as chief executive in a row over funding. Grospiron, who won the moguls gold medal the last time France hosted the Winter Olympics, in Albertville in 1992, was replaced by Charles Beigbeder, a successful businessman but with few contacts within the Olympic Movement. Initially the Annecy bid seemed rejuvenated during the IOC Evaluation Commission visit but then quickly disappeared off the radar again. Even the French Sports Minister told the group of foreign journalists visiting that they were already preparing to lose by getting ready to put forward Paris for another bid in either
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continued from page 25 2020 or 2024. That leaves only Munich, whose bid is headed by the 1984 and 1988 Olympic skating champion Katarina Witt, one of the most iconic names in the history of the Winter Games, to spoil Pyeongchang’s dream. She is aided by the formidable presence of Thomas Bach, the head of the DOSB (German Olympic Sports Confederation), who is tipped to succeed Jacques Rogge as President of the IOC in 2013. The campaign suffered several early blows, including losing two bid leaders, with first Richard Adam being forced out and then his successor Willy Bogner stepping down following fears over his health. Then there has been the disruption caused by local farmers in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Bavarian town which hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics and where the snow events are scheduled to be held this time. A small minority there oppose the Games and have been vocal in their opposition, including raising the threat of a referendum which could seriously damage Munich’s chances. But there were signs during the IOC Evaluation Commission visit last month that Munich is finally getting its act together and should not be ruled out. They have been refining their message - and it is one being increasingly delivered in a strong voice by Bach. “This would be a good time for the IOC and the Olympic Movement to recharge its batteries after having been to new regions and rightly so in the cases of both Sochi and Rio [in 2016],” he said. “Now the times are different. It would be good to recharge, to feel this Olympic atmosphere and share it with the world...and then reach out again afterwards to new regions and areas.” It is a message that is delivered wrapped in a cheque. Germany’s corporate community is responsible for approximately 50 per cent of all revenues of the seven Winter International Federations, including specific funding for the FIS, the IBU, the FIL and FIBT. Figures produced by Munich financial experts claim that the German sports sponsorship market is growing at a rate of 6.3 per cent per year, in spite of the global economic downturn. “German winter sport is a really attractive marketing proposition. Full stadia at all venues make for a great atmosphere,” said Bernhard Schwank, the chief executive of Munich 2018. “A great atmosphere makes for great performances from the athletes, and that
makes for great television. Munich 2018 will optimise all these strengths like never before and that will create the perfect environment for the business sector to continue their backing for winter sports at all levels. “The strength of the German economy will allow us to finance the Games while we build the Olympic brand through stadia full of spectators and a global television audience excited by the magic of Munich 2018 and the extraordinary atmosphere. We believe our mission would be to strengthen the brand of the Olympic Winter Games like never before and turn it back over to the IOC as a much stronger asset for the entire Olympic Movement.” Munich are also highlighting that if they are chosen as hosts in 2018 then not only will they become the first city in history to stage both the Summer and Winter Olympics but that they will be utilising many of the facilities that they built for those Games in 1972. The iconic Olympic Stadium, where Lasse Viren completed the 5,000 and 10,000 metres gold medal double, would be refurbished to host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies in front of 70,000 fans. The Olympic Hall would be used for short track and figure skating and the event arena for ice hockey. The most innovative plan, though, features the swimming pool, the scene of Mark Spitz’s record seven gold medals, which would be the proposed curling venue in 2018. “The park will be transformed to leave another 40-year legacy after 2018,” said Witt. “This will provide an unprecedented 80-year sustainable legacy showcase for the Olympic Movement.” Do they choose the old order or new territories? The IOC has a tough choice to make.
Top: Charles Beigbeder, head of the Annecy bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, delivers a speech on February 12, 2011 in the French Alps city of Annecy, at the end of the visit of the IOC evaluation commission. Photo: Jean-Pierre Clatot/AFP/Getty Images Middle: The Olympic Pool at Munich Olympic Park - site of Mark Spitz’ gold medal winning performances - is transformed into its proposed 2018 status as the curling venue. Bottom: Alpensia Olympic Village Photo courtesy Pyeongchang 2018
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Money
spinners Hosting Paralympic events can bring huge economic benefits to the winning bidders as insideworldparasport’s Tom Degun reports
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espite the terrible earthquake that devastated Christchurch and left over 150 dead, it would do a huge disservice to its brave people to forget that the grand old city hosted a fantastic International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships less than a month earlier. The Championships, featuring South African “Blade-Runner” Oscar Pistorius and co, is considered the blue-ribbon event outside the Paralympic Games. More than 1,000 athletes from 70 countries took part in the nine-day competition at New Zealand’s 20,000-capacity QEII Stadium originally built to stage the 1974 Commonwealth Games - supported by 700 officials, coaches and managers, 150 international technical officials and over 100 overseas media. For a small country like New Zealand, this amounts to a rather handsome profit. “The IPC Athletics World Championships has injected around NZ $12 million into the Christchurch economy,” said event manager Neil Blanchfield. “But in terms of the overall economic impact on New Zealand, the Government has estimated that the event generated in excess of NZ$72 million through major international broadcasters coming in and providing coverage of the city and the country to the world. “That is a fantastic return when the event cost about NZ$5 million to stage, with huge contributions coming from the IPC, Sport and Recreation New Zealand, Christchurch City Council and New Zealand Major Events. “The money is generated through having such a large number of extra people taking up hotel beds, eating regular meals and generally spending around the city.
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“The event effectively created in excess of 150 full-time job equivalents in Christchurch when the Local Organising Committee was established and the infrastructure in the city was dramatically improved, particularly public transport, to create accessibility for disabled athletes such as wheelchair users. “Regarding a sporting legacy, the brand new, permanent warm-up track we put down for the event is a huge bonus. “It can now be used by people in the area for many years to come and makes the track eligible to host major International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) events, which wasn’t the case before we put this terrific warmup track down opposite the stadium. “New Zealand can probably forget about hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games or the Commonwealth Games in the future as they are too big, but Paralympic events such as the IPC Athletics World Championships are perfectly within our capabilities and prove lucrative for the area.” While the IPC Athletics World Championships - which will now be held every two years instead of every four - are the most lucrative Paralympic sporting competition outside of the Paralympic Games themselves, the benefits of hosting other major IPC World Championships are great. For example, the 12,700 capacity National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham, England, was the location for the 2010 IPC World Wheelchair Basketball Championships last July. The 10-day tournament featured 12 men’s and 10 women’s teams in the most important and biggest wheelchair basketball event before the London 2012 Paralympic Games and was hailed a “huge success” by IPC President Sir Philip Craven. The event, in which Australia claimed the men’s gold medal and the USA picked up the
women’s crown, was staged at a cost of £1.3 million and was organised by the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association (GBWBA) and Birmingham City Council, with key financial support from the National Lottery through UK Sport’s World Class Events Programme. The tournament proved a worthwhile investment as it raised £2.2 million for the local economy and was hailed as “a huge inspiration for the people of Birmingham” by Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport. Similar economic benefits were seen in the Netherlands when Eindhoven hosted the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships last August at the impressive 3,000 capacity Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium. The seven-day competition, where Britain’s Ellie Simmonds claimed four gold medals, featured just over 640 athletes from 53 different countries. It was staged at a cost of £900,000 but generated £1.8 million for the local economy. But it is not just major IPC World Championship events that produce sound profits in terms of Paralympic sporting
TOM DEGUN PARALYMPICS CORRESPONDENT, INSIDEWORLDPARASPORT
Left: Justin Eveson (centre) of Australia shoots the ball during the Paralympic World Cup men’s wheelchair basketball final against the US at the Manchester indoor athletics arena in Manchester, England, on May 23, 2009. Photo: Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty Images Above: Oscar Pistorius of South Africa crosses the line to win the men’s 4x100m relay T42-46 final during day eight of the IPC Athletics Championships at QE II Park on January 29, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Photo: Hannah Johnston/Getty Images
competition. In 2005, a number of partners including ParalympicsGB, the IPC, the BBC, Manchester City Council and Fast Track created the Paralympic World Cup to provide an annual world class multi-sport disability event for elite international athletes, bridging the gap between the four-yearly Paralympic Games. The event, which since 2009 has been known as the BT Paralympic World Cup, is now the largest annual international multi-sport competition in elite disability sport. Last year, the four sports comprised of athletics, swimming, wheelchair basketball and football seven-a-side, which replaced track cycling from 2009 to complete the line-up. The 2010 edition of the competition staged at the Manchester Regional Arena and Manchester Aquatics Centre saw 303 athletes from 28 countries compete for 255 medals. In total, the seven-day 2010 BT Paralympic World Cup cost £685,572 but £1,132,150 was generated. It is estimated that the 14,640 spectators who attended spent £446,578. The first day’s athletics competition attracted 5,500 spectators - a record attendance figure
for a disability sporting event in the UK. Around 4,600 spectators watched the football seven-a-side competition, 3,790 people watched wheelchair basketball and 750 turned up to see the swimming on the final day. A total of 900,000 people watched the event on television, higher than in any previous year other than 2007 when a million people tuned in as British Paralympic legend Tanni GreyThompson retired. The 2011 event, which will take place in Manchester for the seventh consecutive year from May 23-28, could set new records in terms of amounts generated and television coverage. Channel 4, host broadcasters for the London 2012 Paralympics, will show the event for the first time and provide the strongest broadcast coverage it has ever received on UK television. Boccia and sitting volleyball will debut, which is a clear illustration of how lucrative hosting Paralympic sporting events can be. IPC chief executive Xavier Gonzalez said: “We want to bring Paralympic sport, particularly the World Championships, to new parts of the world. “They have traditionally been held in Europe
so it is good to go to new places, but it doesn’t mean we will neglect a bid in Europe if that is the best bid. At the end of the day, we will always select the best bid on the table from wherever the bid comes from.” The final word here, though, must go to Chris Holmes, the London 2012 Director of Paralympic Integration, who highlights a legacy greater than new stadiums and vastly improved infrastructure as the best reason for hosting Paralympic sporting competition. “There will be such a great legacy from London 2012, not least the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre, and it would be fantastic to have IPC European and World Championships in years to come in those venues with all the accessibility features in place,” he said. “But as well as the physical legacy, I think the human legacy potential of hosting Paralympic sporting competition in terms of access and inclusion is even more significant. “The potential to shift attitudes towards and opportunities for disabled people, not least young disabled people, is boundless.”
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Brazil has risen from a dark past of crime and corruption and is soon set to be at the centre of global attention when it becomes only the second country to host both the World Cup and Olympics and Paralympics in the same cycle, as insidethegames editor Duncan Mackay reports
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hen Rio de Janeiro were awarded the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics in Copenhagen in October 2009, a tearful President Lula de Silva, Brazil’s popular leader, proclaimed, “The world has recognised that the time has come for Brazil.” Lula’s pride in Rio’s selection was echoed across the country, as thousands of Brazilians poured onto the streets and beaches to celebrate. The International Olympic Committee’s decision to entrust the Games to Brazil - which will be the first South American city to host them - seemed to confirm the nation’s arrival as a serious player on the world stage. With close to 200 million people, Brazil is the world’s fifth most populous country and has the largest economy in South America. It has a booming agricultural sector, a diversified industrial base, and untapped natural resources, including enormous recent oil finds that are expected to thrust Brazil into the ranks of the world’s oil powers in the years ahead. Economists say Brazil is now poised to realise its potential as a global player. The
growth is being felt across the economy, creating a new class of super rich - in 2007, the number of Brazilian millionaires grew by 19 per cent - but also significantly expanding the middle-class. Long famous for its unequal distribution of wealth, Brazil’s income gap - the gap between rich and poor - has shrunk more than any other country in South America this decade, according to the World Bank. While the top 10 percent of Brazil’s earners saw their cumulative income rise by seven percent from 2001 to 2006, the bottom 10 percent shot up by 58 percent, according to the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio. In a country famous for its carnivals, the World Cup in 2014, the first time Brazil have hosted the tournament since 1950, will be the country’s coming out party. The nation will hardly have time to recover from its hangovers before it gets the chance to do it all again at Rio in 2016. Of course, Brazil must first get ready to welcome all these guests. The biggest concern is how everyone is going to travel round this vast country. Brazil won its World Cup bid, in part, thanks
DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES
Left: Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, Rio 2016 bid President Carlos Arthur Nuzman, center, and Brazilian soccer great Pele, right, celebrate with their delegation after it was announced that Rio de Janeiro has won the bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games at the Bella Center on October 2, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo: Charles Dharapak-Pool/Getty Images Above: A Brazilian beach soccer fan whistles as he wears a pair of sunglasses announcing the FIFA Football World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Photo: Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images Right: A huge banner welcoming the FIFA World Cup 2014 is displayed at the foot of Christ the Redemeer statue in Rio de Janeiro on July 11, 2010. Photo: Beth Santos/AFP/Getty Images
to ambitious plans to make it a truly nationwide event, hosting games in 12 different cities spread out all over the country - Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Cuiaba, Salvador, Recife, Natal, Fortaleza, and Manaus. South Africa, by comparison, hosted last year’s World Cup games in nine cities. By one estimate $40 billion will be invested in Brazilian host cities between now and 2014. Pele is among those who have owned up to fears about general infrastructure, airports in particular. Transport at the 2014 finals will depend on internal air travel more than in any previous World Cup because of the vast size of Brazil and the lack of adequate longdistance high-speed train systems. “Everyone knows of the fight we had to get the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, travelling around the world seeking votes and now a moment has come that is worrying everyone,” said Pele. “Brazil is running a great risk of embarrassing us in how it runs the World Cup, principally in communications. The airports are frightening and not just for Brazilians.” While Brazil has made great strides in recent
years, other challenges remain. There is still a great deal of poverty, crime is widespread, and violent gangs control large swathes of Rio de Janeiro’s slums, known as favelas. Shortly after the Olympics were awarded to Rio, a fire fight between rival gangs in a local favela left 20 people dead, and gang members shot down a police helicopter. Rio has one of the world’s highest murder rates, with 4,631 murders last year (compared with 523 in New York City). But organisers of both the World Cup and Olympics have expressed their faith in the security measures, which have included armed police forcing their way into the favelas and meeting violence with violence. “I ratify the confidence in the public authorities and recognise the effort by the state Government of Rio de Janeiro with the aim of reducing urban violence,” said Brazilian Football Confederation President Ricardo Teixeira. “It can be seen that society is reacting strongly against the incidents provoked by criminals, in a demonstration that public opinion supports the security policies. “As a consequence, I can assure the sporting
community that host city Rio de Janeiro will have the climate of normality necessary to stage the Confederations Cup in 2013 and the World Cup in 2014.” Carlos Nuzman, the President of Rio 2016, who was the driving force behind the successful bid, is convinced that the world will view Brazil in a different light after the Games. “My dream is to make Rio an example of a city or country which can change thanks to the Olympics,” he told insidethegames. “Our biggest challenge has been transport. The state of Rio will build two subway lines to cross the mountains and the City Council will take care of setting up four bus routes with a high level of service. Finally, we have to improve all of our airports. “Our other main challenge is our commitment to safety. In order to succeed, the State Secretary for Security in Rio de Janeiro has already created a peacemaker unit, which since 2009 has been working in the favelas to ensure security during the Olympics. “I hope that this event will give the world the desire to discover our city and our country.”
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The controversy over FIFA’s decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar shows no sign of abating, but, argues insideworldfootball’s Andrew Warshaw, you have to admire the way the tiny oil-rich state played its cards.
ANDREW WARSHAW CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER, INSIDEWORLDFOOTBALL
Left: FIFA president Joseph Blatter opens the envelope to reveal that Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich on December 2, 2010. Qatar became the first Arab, Middle Eastern or Muslim country to be awarded the right to stage football’s World Cup. Photo: Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images Below left: Chairman of Qatar 2022 Bid Committee Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani (right) is comforted by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned on the podium with the World Cup trophy after the official announcement that Qatar will host the 2018 World Cup on December 2, 2010 at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich. Photo: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images
J
ust occasionally, in the murky, unpredictable world of football politics, one single issue hits you so hard between the eyes, you wonder if you can actually see straight. More column inches have been written about FIFA’s decision to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup than anyone could have imagined prior to the ballot in Zurich in early December. What’s done is done say those who voted for the tiny Middle East state. Let’s move on. If only it were that easy. Months after the gas- and oil-rich nation swept all opposition aside with a staggering 14 votes, Qatar’s suitability to stage the biggest football jamboree on the planet in a country half the size of Wales continues to be scrutinised.
Sceptics persist in questioning whether the Qataris won the race by fair means or foul and FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s admission that informal discussions about a winter World Cup in Qatar took place in the build-up to the vote served only to fuel doubts about the entire bidding process. Whether or not the tournament does end up being played in winter to avoid the searing desert heat of the Gulf is, as yet, unresolved. But the fact that Qatar’s bid documents said nothing - not even in the fine print - about switching the tournament to more palatable January conditions means the issue remains a major talking point. Arguably a far more intriguing subject for debate is the fact that Qatar won hands down despite - or perhaps in spite of - being ranked so poorly by the FIFA technical inspection team whose official evaluation report warned of a potential health risk to players, fans and FIFA officials alike because of the suffocating conditions. None of this should be taken with a pinch of salt but the 2022 tournament is, after all, still 11 years away. Whatever the cynics might say about Qatar’s plans to use revolutionary cooling techniques in stadiums and training camps, conditions at the recent Asian Cup both inside and outside the stadiums were perfect for football even if crowds were minimal (except for the host nation’s matches) and the tournament was staged during the most temperate time of the year. Those outside the Middle East may cry foul about the 2022 World Cup going to Qatar but there has still not been any firm proof or evidence that they broke any rules during the campaign despite persistent talk of a voting trade-off with Spain/Portugal’s 2018 candidacy. What no-one can dispute is that Qatar played their cards brilliantly throughout the process, highlighted by a slick, sophisticated final presentation in Zurich that played right into the hands of FIFA’s clear - if previously undisclosed - desire to take the tournament to new destinations. Unsurprisingly, Qatar remain quiet on a possible switch of date, seemingly happy to let FIFA take the decision, one that must be made
no later than 2015 - not so far away when it comes to sponsorship deals and the like. Much has been made of the disruption a winter World Cup would cause in Europe where as many as three league seasons would have to be totally rescheduled. Then there is the fact that a winter tournament would clash with the Winter Olympics. These are two serious debates, fuelled by UEFA president Michel Platini’s suggestion that the World Cup be expanded to take in neighbouring Gulf states. Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed bin Hammam, himself a Qatari, rejects Platini’s idea - and the very notion that the World Cup should be staged outside its traditional time frame. “We are confident we can stage the most comfortable World Cup ever and we will keep our promise,” he says. “We are not interested in changing by even one day from the conventional period.” That will be music to the ears of International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge who has called for talks with FIFA to prevent any clash. Rogge has made it clear that the 2022 Winter Games will not be altered just to suit football. “There is no way we can organise the winter Games in December or March,” he said. “I think it would be sensible, once a decision is being envisaged by FIFA, to sit around the table and see that it is not harmful to either party.” For their part, members of the Qatari bid committee are understandably aggrieved at all the negativity and are at pains to counter what they perceive to be a string of misconceptions. They stress they will leave no stone unturned to put on a tournament of which every participant can be proud, with billions spent on every aspect of infrastructure. The country plans to double the number of hotel and apartment rooms, build a new rail network, construct nine World Cup stadiums and refurbish three existing ones for seven host cities. Incredibly, there are even plans to build a brand new city, Lusail City, which will have 200,000 residents and is scheduled to be finished by 2019, complete with man-made islands, an entertainment district, an office park for energy companies, a golf course and
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Right: Local school children hold a poster showing Qatar’s successful 2022 World Cup bid as they watch a football training session at the ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence on January 25, 2011 in Doha, Qatar. Photo: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images Below: Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani (left), FIFA President Joseph Blatter (centre) and Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov pose with the World Cup following the announcement that Russia and Qatar will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on December 2, 2010 at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich. Photo: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images
continued from page 35 five stadiums. The 86,000-seater Lusail stadium, yet to be built, will host the opening match and the final. “We will deliver with passion and make sure this is a milestone in the history of the Middle East and a milestone for FIFA,” pledged Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani in response to those who question how a tiny nation that has little or no football pedigree could have pulled off such a coup and how enjoyable and expensive the fan experience might be. The Sheikh was backed up by Hassan al-Thawadi, the forward-thinking, multi-lingual chief executive of the Qatar bid who was the public face of a dynamic, skilful campaign that was conspicuous by the “Expect Amazing” slogan which still adorns billboards around the country. It is a motto, promises the western-educated al-Thawadi, which will be 100 per cent fulfilled. “We can allow history to be made while opening up the gates of communication between east and west,” he said. “The Middle East will be put on a platform for everyone to see as it truly is. And, more importantly, it allows the Middle East to interact with the rest of the world.” In one sense, off the field, Qatar has been doing that pro-actively for years. Behind the scenes, through its much-lauded Aspire academy and its Football Dreams programme, the state has built a strong humanitarian presence in developing countries, discovering young, untapped footballers in remote outposts - kids who would otherwise never
have been given a chance - and bringing them to Qatar to be part of an intensive and technically advanced training project. Understandably, the Qataris are hugely proud of the heavily-funded academy that underpins the country’s entire football development. Suggestions that FIFA Executive Committee members whose countries had benefited from Aspire voted for Qatar as a gesture of thanks may or may not be true. What is indisputable is that the 2022 hosts will attend to every detail in their quest to prove that anything can be
achieved with unlimited funds, 100 per cent commitment and unrelenting desire. One recent economic report claimed the World Cup would grow the value of football in the region by $14 billion by 2022. Al-Thawadi says the figures proved that Qatar was not just pouring money into its campaign without any thought towards the future. “We know the passion for football in the Middle East,” he said. “The missing piece of the jigsaw is having the FIFA World Cup as the catalyst to unlock a whole new generation of fans and players.”
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up for the judges’ marks and seeing only a blank space. After two extensive studies into the financial ramifications of a London bid, the second an independent effort by Arup Consultants, the BOA claimed that no bid had ever been more thoroughly researched in advance. The 2012 Games will be a defining moment for Pessimistic noises coming out of the Treasury Sebastian Coe and the country, but insidethegames appeared to have been effectively muffled by the initiative of Ken Livingstone, London’s mayor, feature writer Mike Rowbottom remembers a time when who committed the people of the capital to the idea of hosting the Olympics was considered madness. underwriting £1.1 billion towards the costs. But the auguries had been less promising in the case of the House of Commons subhere have probably been odd moments beady expression on the face of the then IOC committee charged with assessing the pros and in the last six years when Lord Sebastian president Juan Antonio Samaranch at his cons of an Olympic bid. Even before his Coe has wondered what he’s got himself whistle-stop press conference in Manchester into. airport in 1993 as he assured all the anxious local sub-committee had met, the chairman, Gerald “Let me out! Let me back on the track! I want officials that their city had an excellent chance of Kaufman, had described the campaign as “madness” - a phrase which some felt indicated a to run the 800 again in 1 minute 41 and bits and staging the 2000 Olympics. then go out for two small beers!” The urge was strong to shout out: “You say that less than open mind on the matter. Commenting on the situation at the time, the No, Seb. You are a Lord now and you must to all the girls!” Happily, I fought it. man who had led the two Manchester bids, oversee the biggest sporting occasion this Towards the end of 2002, the decision about Sir Bob Scott, rejected Kaufman’s financial country has known since the 1966 World Cup whether London should bid for the 2012 analysis of the situation. finals. And by the way, don’t make any mistakes, Olympics was graphically described by David “Kaufman says we are going to have a huge or history will judge you ill. Luckes, who had recently put together a debt around our neck from the Games,” Scott It seems almost impossible to imagine a time feasibility study for the British Olympic mused. “Livingstone just looks at the revenue of when the 2012 Olympics were not coming to Association. the Games against costs, and believes it will London. But there was such a time. “The BOA and the Greater London Authority make a profit. But you are going to have debts The idea of a British Games was beginning to are standing on the cliff top holding hands,” he around your neck after a Games because that’s feel unfeasible a decade ago after Birmingham, said. “We are waiting for the Government to join how you pay for infrastructure. And the moment Manchester and Manchester again had got the us before we jump off.” you take infrastructure out of the Olympic IOC brush-off treatment. I can still recall the While the imagery was not comforting, the equation, you make a profit.” urgency was clear. Scott’s position entirely matched that of Rod What may have helped Mr Blair and his McGeoch, who was chief executive of the ministers to make that leap of faith was bidding committee that successfully attracted prompting by the then Secretary of State for the the 2000 Olympics to Sydney, a conjunction that Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa proved to be ideal. Jowell. McGeoch liked to illustrate his main point by While visiting Barcelona to find out what referring to “the Montreal myth” - a reference to benefits had accrued from the city hosting the what many believed had been the ruinous 1992 Olympics, Jowell was offered a panoramic legacy of the 1976 Olympics, which left the view from the top floor of one of the Catalan Canadian city’s taxpayers with years of debt to city’s tallest hotels. Gazing out, she asked the clear. hotel manager what Barcelona had been like “Let’s get that myth behind us,” McGeoch told before it got the Games. members of the BOA. “The mayor of that city “It was a dump,” he replied. “The Olympics built a new airport and highway system, and changed everything.” then sent the bill to the organising committee. According to Luckes, who was the minister’s “If you build a facility that’s going to last 50 or escort on the trip, this reply appeared to register. 60 years, please only charge the Olympic budget Jowell was certainly one of the first in Munich 2018 is bidding to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter in 2018. for the appropriateGames amount. Montreal’ s taxpayers Government to give the idea of London 2012 a are still paying, but they areMovement paying for public Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Königssee would offer the Olympic favourable nod. infrastructure.” By February 2003 members of the Britishthanks a celebratory experience on anOlympic unprecedented scale, to a proud heritage and McGeoch also cast a little light on the personal Association were getting frustrated. LOCOG Chairman Seb Coe (left) and the Mayor of London expertise in staging international winter events. Bavaria’s millions of admitting ardent, costs of organising an Olympics, that They’d put the worksports in, the calculation, the Boris Johnson (right) unveil the first example of how the he had developed stress eczema on the back of lobbying. They’ d done their compulsories, and capital’s major landmarks will display Olympic and knowledgeable fans will create an incredible festival atmosphere. Munich hopes to Paralympic icons to welcome the world to London for the his hands during the last year of his task. their triple salchows, and now they were 2012 London Olympics at St Pancras Station on March 3, welcome the world to our Festival ofnervously Friendship inthe2018! “I didn’t realise what it was,” he recalled. “But smilining at the edge of ice looking 2011 in London, England the day we won the Games it disappeared.” Photo: Paul Gilham/Getty Images
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