(ATR) Madrid 2020 leaders held meetings with mayors of other Spanish cities involved in the bid to strengthen relations on the Olympic project.
Madrid Mayor Ana Botella, bid president Alejandro Blanco, and CEO Víctor Sánchez met with representatives of the cities on Wednesday.
The mayors of Valladolid, Málaga, Getafe and Paracuellos del Jarama were joined by the deputy mayors of Zaragoza and Barcelona, Maite Prados as well as the respective heads of sport at Cordoba and Valencia City Councils.
The bid envisages using Barcelona, Málaga, Cordoba, Valladolid and Zaragoza as sub venues for the Olympic football tournaments. Valencia will host the sailing events, Paracuellos de Jarama the shooting competitions and Getafe the rowing, canoe sprint and slalom and marathon swimming events.
"The Olympic Games will provide incomes both to Madrid and Spain and they will be good for the brand "Madrid" and for the brand "Spain". All Spanish citizens are aware of this," said Botella.
The cities of Zaragoza and Valladolid are part of an Olympic bid for the first time; the other cities had already participated in the Madrid 2016 bid effort.
"You are all an essential piece to achieve the success of Madrid on September 7th in Buenos Aires" added Botella. "We are all willing to collaborate and work as a team in this common project which is good for the whole country".
Also Wednesday, the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities (UCCI), an international, non-governmental organization that fosters ties and friendly relations between its members, threw its weight behind Madrid 2020.
Support for the bid has been driven by Luis Revilla, Mayor of La Paz, with the unequivocal backing of the members present at the XV Plenary Assembly of the UCCI held in Lisbon and closed by Botella.
Economic Boost for Istanbul
The Turkish Olympic bid is hailing economic studies that highlight Istanbul’s role as an emerging global financial hub, saying it provides evidence of the city’s capacity to provide a stable, sustainable financial platform for the Olympics.
This week, financial analysts said Turkey’s large domestic market, youthful population and relative political stability were the strong fundamental assets proving a powerful draw to international investors.
Bid leader Hasan Arat said the studies supported comments made earlier this year by Turkey’s environment and urbanisation minister that Istanbul would become a global centre of commerce.
"This is vital for our Olympic bid, because it means that Istanbul and Turkey can do justice to the greatest sporting event on Earth by attracting the international investment, expertise and excitement the Games deserve," Arat said.
"Our tourism and sports industry statistics tell the same story: this is a city competing with the best in the world. For example, this year Istanbul became the fifth most visited city on the planet, and in November we will host our second major World Championships in less than nine months."
In September, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan outlined a vision for the International Financial Centre planned for the Asian side of the Bosphorus. The IFC is set to create an estimated 50,000 jobs and host the new Istanbul Stock Exchange on site. The project has trigged a large number of development projects, including the construction of modern housing, luxury hotels, restaurants, bars and malls.
Bids Gear Up for OCA Assembly
Representatives from the Olympic bid committees of Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo are attending the 31st OCA General Assembly in Macau, China from Nov. 6-8.
Under IOC rules governing international promotion, no presentations are allowed.
The bids can send a maximum of four observers.
The most important item on the OCA agenda is the election of the host city for the 18th Asian Games in 2019. The three candidates are: Surabaya (Indonesia), Hanoi (Vietnam) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
Reported by Mark Bisson
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