(ATR) Despite IOC guidelines to cut costs, the four Olympic bids have so far contracted more than 40 consultants.
This figure is double the number of consultants listed as working for the original five 2024 candidate cities on the IOC’s consultants register in September. Hamburg dropped out of the running in November after a referendum defeat.
Just six months after the 2024 race officially started, Paris boasts 18 consultants.
Rome has amassed 14 consultants, while Los Angeles has 10 on board and Budapest only two. But the Hungarian bid is expected to quickly sign up more partners in the coming few months.
On Wednesday, all four candidate cities will submit their first bid books to the IOC in the new three-stage race. Detailed questionnaires covering ‘Vision, Games Concept and Strategy’ will be delivered by the bids’ technical delegates to the IOC’s Lausanne headquarters.
The IOC urged the 2024 bids in the invitation phase to do their utmost to reduce costs in the marathon bidding contest that climaxes with the host city vote in September 2017.
Under IOC reforms, bid consultants and lobbyists for the 2024 cities are asked to register on the Olympic committee’s website to show their commitment to comply with its code of ethics and rules of bidding conduct. The idea is to make the role of consultants more transparent in Olympic bidding, while increasing the IOC’s vigilance of any rogue operators.
A consultant is considered to be "any individual or company who is not linked by an employment contract to the NOC, the city or the bidding committee, and who participates in or supports a candidature by providing consultancy or similar services in any way and at any time".
Only those already chosen by an NOC or city to support their bid can register. They are banned from referring to their listing on the register for promotional or commercial purposes.
Loopholes in the system are already emerging.
Rome’s former international PR firm, London-based Milltown partners, are still listed on the register, despite a mutual agreement not to extend a six-month contract which expired at the start of January.
The IOC has threatened to punish consultants who breach its rules and regulations, vowing to "take measures and/or sanction, including the withdrawal from the register".
"The NOC and the [bid] city will be responsible for refraining from receiving services from a consultant who cannot provide proof of registration," the IOC added.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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