Guadalajara YOG Bid is a Go, Confirms Adviser

(ATR) Ivar Sisniega tells Around the Rings all levels of government are guaranteeing Guadalajara’s candidacy for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

The modern pentathlon Olympian from Mexico, who served as sports director for the 2011 Pan American Games and now advises the YOG bid, confirmed Tuesday that federal, state and city support are reflected in the candidature file.

"We sent the package off today," he added, "via UPS or something."

Monday is the deadline for the bid books to arrive at IOC headquarters in Lausanne. Some cities are sending delegations to make the handover, ATR is told, while others are opting for mail.

Sisniega’s statement all but ensures the IOC a five-way race for 2018. Buenos Aires, Glasgow, Medellin and Rotterdam are the other remaining candidates after Poznan, Poland withdrew this week due to insufficient guarantees – a fate with which Guadalajara is all too familiar.

Mexico’s second largest city bid for the 2014 YOG too but dropped out weeks before the host vote at the 2010 IOC Session in Vancouver to concentrate on preparations for the Pan Ams, which faced construction issues at the time.

Though the success of the 2011 Games later prompted the Mexican Olympic Committee to sideline Monterrey as its city of choice for 2018, concerns lingered that unpaid bills from the Pan Ams could force another early exit for Guadalajara.

As recently as Sept. 19, Mexican media quote Jalisco state governor Aristotle Jorge Sandoval Diaz as saying he would not sign off on the YOG as long as the $30 million debt remains – and bid chief Carlos Andrade Garin as saying it’s better to send the book without his signature than to draw the ire of the IOC with another dropout.

According to Sisniega, however, Tuesday’s shipment to Lausanne includes support from all levels of government.

"I’m not really at liberty to disclose all the details of what’s in it," he told ATR when asked specifically about a letter from Diaz.

Pressed whether the file has everything required by the IOC, he insisted that’s up to the evaluation panel chaired by German IOC member Cladia Bokel.

"I think it’s a pretty solid candidacy," said Sisniega. "Hopefully, the IOC will look at it favorably."

The panel will analyze each city’s candidature file following Monday’s deadline.

A report will be made to the IOC Executive Board, which will recommend a shortlist of cities for further evaluation at its meeting in Lausanne on Feb. 12 and13.

Following further assessment and video conferences with each remaining bid, a report will be submitted to IOC members, who will elect the host city at a meeting in Lausanne on July 4.

Reported by Matthew Grayson

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