Bidding for the Games -- Chinese Bid Wins Top Marks for 2014 Youth Olympics

Nanjing, population 7.4 million. (City of Nanjing) (ATR) A report on the bids for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games appears to give the edge to the bid from Nanjing ahead of a vote by the IOC next month.

Along with Nanjing, Guadalajara in Mexico and Poznan, Poland are seeking to host the 2014 YOG, the second edition for the event which debuts this year in Singapore. The IOC will decide among the three at its session in Vancouver Feb. 10-11.

The IOC Evaluation Commission report released today says that of the three bids, Nanjing presents “minimal risks”.

In the language of the report both Guadalajara and Pozan present “a number of risks” to hosting the YOG.

The Mexican bid’s Guadalajara has a population of approximately five million. (ATR) biggest handicap, according the report, may be the lack of financial guarantees for the $82.7 million budget. Guadalajara can only provide guarantees covering 65 percent of the budget, leading the IOC to conclude “there is an important financial risk in not having a full shortfall guarantee in place”.

For Poznan, the IOC has concerns about whether budgets are insufficient in some categories.

“Poznan’s YOGOC budget appears low in a number of key areas and may not be sufficient to cover the proposed levels of service described in the candidature,” says the report. The $64 million budget from Poznan is the lowest among the candidates.

With a population of 560,000, Poznan is the smallest city bidding for the 2014 YOG. (Poznan 2014)The IOC also notes concerns about the Youth Olympic Village:

“Should the Games be awarded to Poznan, it would be essential to closely monitor the progress of construction of the Youth Olympic Village project in order to minimise risks”.

Nanjing draws the strongest indications of confidence from the IOC report.

“Nanjing proposes a reasonably compact concept backed up by generally solid guarantees. Nanjing makes good use of existing venues and has some experience in hosting international and multi-sport events,” says the report.

The city of more than 7 million is the biggest of the three bids and offers the largest budget, $117 million, fully guaranteed. But that budget could be too big says the IOC.

“Whilst there may be a risk of over-sizing compared with the minimum requirements and YOG philosophy set out by the IOC in terms of venues and service levels, the bid committee has agreed to work closely with the IOC, should the Games be awarded to Nanjing and a number of proposals have already been made in this regard,” the report concludes.

The IOC report says the cultural and education program in Nanjing needs “greater integration of global themes would be required to fully address all audiences put forward by the IOC.”

The three cities participated in teleconferences with the IOC commission last month to review the files they submitted.

The commission was chaired by IOC member Frank Fredericks. Other members included IOC members Patrick Baumann, Claudia Bokel, Sergei Bubka and Timothy Fok; Neven Ivan Ilic, president of Chile NOC; Guido de Bondt, sec. gen of the Belgian NOC; IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli, Sports Director Christophe Dubi and YOG director Essar Gabriel; Andrew Ryan, executive director of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations.

The full report of the IOC Evaluation Commission is online at the IOC Web site.

Written by Ed Hula.