(ATR) Twenty-two consultants are listed as working for the five candidate cities for the 2024 Olympics on the IOC’s website.
Hamburg and Paris have each recruited seven consultants so far. GMP and Faktor 3 Sport are among those on board for the German bid.
Mike Lee’s VERO Communications, Seven46 and Keneo are the most familiar names for the French bid. Nick Varley's Seven46 has been involved in the last three winning Summer Olympic bids. Paris 2024 CEO Etienne Thobois was a director at Keneo from January 2010 to June 2015 before quitting to take on the bid leadership role.
Los Angeles boasts several veterans of Olympic bidding in Douglas Arnot, George Hirthler, Jon Tibbs Associates and Teneo Sports.
Rome 2024 boasts a newcomer to Olympic circles in London-based Milltown Partners. Former BBC sports editor David Bond is the director who is working closely on international relations with the bid team.
Conspicuous by their absence are any consultants for Budapest 2024.
Bid spokesman Zsigmond Nagy tells Around the Rings this will soon be rectified.
He said that the bid was in the process of choosing consultants to support the Hungarian tilt at the Olympics, who would then be asked to sign up to the IOC register."This will be done in accordance with the rules," he said.
As part of IOC reforms, the consultants register was launched in the spring during the invitation phase of the bidding process. Consultants and lobbyists must sign up showing their commitment to comply with the IOC’s code of ethics and rules of bidding conduct.
It aims to make the role of consultants more transparent in Olympic bidding, while increasing the IOC’s vigilance of those attempting to gain advantage by breaching ethics rules.
"Entry in the register is a prerequisite for the provision of any service and/or the signature of any service contract by the NOC and/or the city," the IOC said, adding that registration does constitute any form of endorsement by the president Thomas Bach’s organization.
The IOC website says that 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.
The IOC threatens 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.
To monitor the registered consultants’ compliance with these regulations, the IOC said it may collect and process certain information relative to consultants, including personal data in accordance with the 1992 Swiss Federal Data Protection Act. At the registration stage, consultants are being asked to expressly confirm their agreement with this information gathering procedure.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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