Media Watch -- Bidding for 2020

2020 Bid Cities

Jim Caple covers the pros and cons of Istanbul, Madrid, and Tokyo on ESPN.com. The IOC will choose a host city for the 2020 Summer Olympics on September 7 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Caple points out that Turkey would be the first "predominantly Muslim" country to host a Summer Olympics. Madrid's expected budget is the "lowest of the three cities." He calls Tokyo a "safe choice," and emphasizes its "excellent" infrastructure and transportation system.

The "large-scale" demonstrations that took place throughout Istanbul in June did not "help the international image of the city or country." Spain’s economy is suffering, and Tokyo is fending off worries over the Fukushima nuclear plant "disaster."

Nick Zaccardi reports on Istanbul’s chances of hosting the 2020 Games. According to Zaccardi, Istanbul was a "trendy pick" among media members nine months ago. "The last few months have not been kind to Istanbul’s prospects," Zaccardi writes.

Anti-government protests and "one of the largest doping scandals in sports history" plague Istanbul’s 2020 bid. Zaccardi references a producer’s remarks on GamesBids.com: "Despite Istanbul’s noted question marks, much can change in seven years between the vote and the actual staging of the Games."

A video report on France 24 International News explores whether the 2020 Games will be the first held in a predominantly Muslim country. The report focuses on Istanbul’s infrastructure and the young people who would potentially benefit from the city staging the 2020 Olympics. Hasan Arat speaks to France 24 to promote the city’s 2020 bid as well.

Reuters features supportive statements from soccer star Lionel Messi for Madrid’s 2020 bid:

"I think Madrid has a good chance for what it (the city) represents, Spain’s position in the world of sport, where it has triumphed in many different areas, and that can have an influence too.

I think it would be good for sport to award Madrid the Games and I support their bid from here."

The Huffington Post features a 2020 prediction from sports economics expert and Hamburg University professor, Wolfgang Maennig. "To my astonishment, it seems like it’s going to be Madrid," Maennig told the Huffington Post.

Maennig added, "I talked today to the president of a national federation and people are still afraid of Syria and even Iraq, even though that was years ago, affecting Turkey.

"There are also many concerns about the level of radiation in Japan."

This report contrasts with other predictions "swirling around the IOC's decision."

The Associated Press reports that Tokyo is still "fending off Fukushima concerns." Tokyo 2020 bid leader Tsunekazu Takeda told the press in Buenos Aires on Wednesday that "the radiation level in Tokyo is the same as London, New York and Paris."

The Japanese government announced Tuesday that it will spend "$470 million on a subterranean ice wall and other steps in a bid to stop leaks of radioactive water."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will also join in downplaying the Fukushima nuclear plant leak. Bloomberg reports that Abe spoke with the press as he left for the "Group of 20 meeting in St. Petersburg." He will leave this meeting early to attend the IOC Session in Buenos Aires.

"There have been some expressions of concern over the leak of polluted water at Fukushima, but the government will take a lead in achieving a complete resolution of this problem," Abe told reporters. "I will explain carefully that we are doing our utmost with a firm resolve and that in 2020, seven years from now, there will be absolutely no problem."

Rick Broadbent tells The Times that despite the "Fukushima fallout, IOC voters are expected to see Japan as a safe pair of hands."

The Times writes: "In the plush corridors of power, which double as the Buenos Aires Hilton, the Olympic sport of schmoozing is reaching its climax. Princes, pole vaulters, sheikhs and soccer stars are shaking on the greatest prize in sport. The biggest bill will follow."

The 2020 Sports Program

Andy Murray joins Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Kim Clijsters, and Stefan Edberg in backing squash's 2020 bid. The AAP reports on squash’s iconic support for the 2020 Olympic Games.

The Economic Times covers Sports Secretary P K Deb’s letter written to all IOC members. The letter encourages the IOC to "retain wrestling in the category of core sports" in the 2020 Games.

Deb writes, "Wrestling, which combines Freestyle (men and women) and Greco-Roman events, goes back to the inaugural modern Olympics held in Athens in 1886 and has been a core sport from the first Olympics onwards."

The IOC will add one sport to the 2020 program on September 8.

Compiled byNicole Bennett.

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