Exclusive: IOC Warns 2020 Olympic Bids About Promotion; Istanbul, Madrid, Tokyo Latest

(ATR) The IOC warns the three 2020 bid cities they must adhere to restrictions on promotion at the upcoming European Olympic Committees general assembly in Israel.

Despite allowing presentations at the Association of National Olympic Committees general assembly in Moscow in April, the IOC is blocking any bid pitches at continental Olympic association meetings in keeping with its new rules designed to slash bid budgets.

Around the Rings has seen a letter, dated Sept. 5, sent by the IOC’s head of bid city relations Jacqueline Barrett to Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo, which makes explicit that the bids are not allowed to promote at the EOC meeting in Eilat on Dec. 7 and 8.

"Each candidate city is invited to send a maximum of four observers to this event, and we would kindly remind you that, in line with the Rules of Conduct, no international promotion of any kind may be undertaken," the letter states, referring to a ban on distributing "any documentation /information /press kits" at the meeting.

The 2020 bids are asked to provide the names of their delegates by Nov. 26.

ATR understands the three cities have not yet received an invitation to attend the Olympic Council of Asia’s 31st general assembly in Macau in November. Under IOC rules, that would also be out of bounds for promotion.

A source from one of the bids tells ATR that candidate cities had expected there would be no presentations in the continental meetings, even though the IOC had left the door open after relaxing the ban at ANOC.

"We do appreciate the opportunity which allows us to meet members of the IOC and members of the NOCs in Europe face-to-face," the source says. "Our senior members are keen to explore what the members are looking for in the future Games and the future of these global sports communities."

The EOC promotional ban is in line with restrictions brought in by the IOC one year ago. The period for international promotion for 2020 candidates is allowed only after Jan. 7, 2013 – the deadline for the bid books.

But the IOC backtracked on the rule to allow the six applicant cities in the race for the 2020 Games to speak at the ANOC assembly. At the Moscow meeting, they were each allowed six delegate accreditations.

The IOC had originally decided to cut the international PR period following a debrief of the 2016 Olympic bid cities under efforts to reduce the costs of bidding for the summer Olympics. Summer bid budgets can rocket to nearly $100 million.

After the January bid book submissions, the IOC Evaluation Commission led by Britain’s Craig Reedie will undertake inspections of Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul next March.

The bids will have opportunities to promote themselves at a number of meetings before the Sept. 7 IOC vote in Buenos Aires. These include SportAccord in St. Petersburg in May; an ANOC general assembly next June in Lausanne; and a technical briefing back in Lausanne in July.

Madrid Volunteer Campaign

Spanish bid officials are gearing up to launch Madrid’s volunteer campaign in the coming weeks.

The logo, slogan and details of the recruitment drive will be presented to the public and national and international media by the end of September.

A Madrid 2020 spokeswoman tells ATR that the "stunning volunteer campaign" forms part of a "very ambitious marketing plan" that is in the pipeline.

The other main focus is completion of the bid book that is due to the IOC in January.

Istanbul Learning from London

Bid leader Hasan Arat has spent time this week chairing a number of high-level meetings to review progress of preparation of the Istanbul 2020 bid dossier.

A spokesman said Arat was keen "to ensure that the lessons from his bid committee’s London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic observation teams have been fully downloaded for inclusion into the files.

"This work will involve input from a range of national and international experts."

Work is also ongoing on Istanbul’s national campaign, which will be focusing around Turkish sport and athletes.

A number of bid committee members will be spreading the Olympic bid message at Turkish sporting events such as Salcano MTB Cup-Grand Final Class1-XCO at Arnavutköy on Sept. 15 and the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Istanbul on Sept. 19, as well as at a host of other national events such as the Kap cycling Road Races in Bursa.

Tokyo Plotting Next Phase

The Japanese bid is working flat out to develop the best possible candidature file, a spokesman tells ATR.

Also busy at the moment is Tokyo 2020’s IF team, which is in the middle of the process to get approvals from all international sports federations.

The bid’s event team is establishing concrete bid promotion plans to boost national support for the next several months, while the communications team is planning the international campaign and lobbying strategy that will burst into life in January.

On Wednesday, Tokyo 2020 flagged up its top 10 ranking in World Economic Forum's recently released Global Competitiveness Report.

Bid president Tsunekazu Takeda said he was pleased to see Japan's excellent and consistent performance in a variety of areas. Notably, the report highlights Japan's "major competitive edge in business sophistication and innovation". The country ranks first worldwide in "Capacity for innovation."

"Innovation is embedded in our plans for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020, so we are happy to see a third-party as reputable as the World Economic Forum herald Japan's capabilities. Visitors to Tokyo today see innovation at its best, and in 2020 innovation will continue to come alive," Takeda said.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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