Bidding for the Games: 2016 Cities Scrutinized in Istanbul

Istanbul is the latest stop for the 2016 campaigns. (ATR)(ATR) The four cities bidding for the 2016 Olympics are assembling their teams in Istanbul where they will present Friday to the annual assembly of the European Olympic Committees.

Rehearsals are already under way in Istanbul by Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. The cities will have 15 minutes to make their cases before the EOC group, considered perhaps the most influential of the five continental associations of national Olympic committees.

Leaders of the bids tell Around the Rings they will follow largely the same formats used in presentations made last month to the Olympic Council of Asia and the Pan American Sports Organization. There are rumors that Chicagoan and U.S. President-elect Barack Obama will appear in Istanbul by pre-recorded video.

“All the meetings are important,” said Rio 2016 chief Carlos Nuzman. “But this is important because we have a lot of IOC members.” While more than 40 IOC members hail from Europe, not all are expected in Istanbul.

Large Delegations Expected

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley will lead his group in Istanbul, along with bid chair Patrick Ryan, IOC member Anita DeFrantz and USOC Vice President Bob Ctvrtlik.

Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon arrives in Istanbul today, along with IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch. They’ll join bid CEO Mercedes Coghen and her team already in place.

The Rio de Janeiro delegation will include state Governor Sérgio Cabral, Brazilian Minister of Sports Orlando Silva, Eduardo Paes, the mayor-elect, along with Nuzman and bid secretary Carlos Roberto Osório.

From Tokyo, NOC President Tsunekazu Takeda, IOC Vice President Chiharu Igaya, bid chair Ichiro Kono and bid Athletes Commission chair Mikako Kotani will lead the delegation to Istanbul.

Key Officials Absent

With mayors of three of the four cities coming to Istanbul, Tokyo is the only one without its municipal government chief. While Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Shintaro Ishihara has been the driving force behind the bid, he has yet to make an appearance for Tokyo at the continental associations meetings. Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Shintaro Ishihara is expected to raise his international profile for the Tokyo bid in 2009.

“Governor Ishihara is actively involved in all aspects of our bid,” bid spokesman Masa Takaya told Around the Rings.

“However, as he is governor of some thirty million people in the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan region, he has to manage his international commitments carefully. There is also a long way to go in this campaign and next year you will see for yourself the total commitment of Governor Ishihara to Tokyo 2016,” said Takaya.

Missing NOC leadership is of note for Chicago 2016, which will be the only one of the four cities without its NOC chief in Istanbul. Neither chair Larry Probst nor predecessor Peter Ueberroth are expected to make the trip to Turkey.

USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel says the job of representing the U.S. at events such as the EOC meeting falls to Bob Ctvrtlik, who has just stepped down as an IOC member, but is now USOC vice president international.

As for Probst, Seibel points out that the new USOC chair took on the post just over a month ago. But Seibel says Probst has been bringing himself up to speed.

“Already, in his first month, he has been actively involved in supporting the bid. He has met with Pat Ryan and worked with Jim Scherr in finalizing our joint marketing agreement with Chicago.”

Earlier this year, an IOC report on the 2016 bid cities cited the absence of such an agreement between Chicago and the USOC as a deficiency.

Ueberroth, who served as USOC chair from 2004 until last month, now holds an honorary position as a non-voting board member which carries the title of president. That move was meant to ensure that Ueberroth would still be involved with the USOC in the last year of the Chicago campaign for 2016.

Around the Rings will provide on the scene coverage of the EOC meeting in Istanbul from Nov. 20 to 22.

Written by Ed Hula

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