Oslo Drops Out of 2022 Bid Race -- Media Watch

(ATR) BBC Sports editor Dan Roan discusses what will happen next in the bid race for the 2022 Winter Olympics, following Oslo's decision to pull out of the race. Almaty, Kazakhstan and Beijing are the two cities left in contention for the Games. "Many will see that as not much of a choice at all," Roan writes.

Roan draws from research conducted by the campaign group Human Rights Watch. "Kazakhstan's record on human rights is poorand torture remains common in places of detention," Roan quotes the group as saying."China, meanwhile, remains an authoritarian, one-party state which justifies human rights abuses as necessary to preserve social stability."

Following the controversy that surrounded the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Roan says this decision is not what the IOC needed.

IOC PresidentThomas Bach told Reuters on Thursday, "Oslo quitting the race to stage the 2022 Winter Olympics has not hurt the International Olympic Committee,but has underlined that changes are needed to make the Games more attractive to bidders."

Bach added, "Norway's decision to pull out was mainly a political one," in light of the country's ruling Conservative party.

Adam Chandler, senior associate editor of the Washington D.C.-based magazineThe Atlantic, takes a closer look at the two cities left bidding for the 2022 Winter Games."Beijing, the host of the 2008 Summer Games, left countless promises unfulfilled after it was called upon to improve its human rights record ahead of the Olympics," Chandler writes. "And ifselected, Almaty would probably be the most obscure host city yet, and the first Olympic host city in Central Asia."

Following Oslo's decision on Wednesday to drop its 2022 bid, Oslomayor Stian Berger Roesland said,"I had hoped for a different result tonight."Ultimately, CBS and The Associated Press report, Norway's Prime Minister Erna Soldberg blamed a lack of support for the projected $5.4 billion needed to host the Games."It's important to get broad support for such an expensive project and there is not enough to carry through such an expensive project," Soldberg said.

"Without enthusiasm, it's not natural to carry this through."

Bruce Arthur, sports columnist for Canadian newspaperThe Toronto Star, says that in light of Oslo's decision,"The IOC has to drag their big beautiful TV show somewhere regrettable.

"Beijing’s air pollution has actually worsened since 2008, and the human rights aren't any better.

"But Kazakhstan would mean humping this show into the wilderness, to the borders of civilized possibility, and the IOC would have to bet that the president-for-life wouldn’t get toppled between now and then."

Swedish daily newspaperDagens Nyhetersays the results of an informal poll reveals 82 percent of its readers think it was right for Oslo to drop its bid for the 2022 Olympics. Sixteen percent believe it was wrong, while two percent chose to answer "do not know."

An Australian news aggregate website, news.com.au, dubs the 2022 Winter Games, "The Olympics that no one seems to want."

Founder and columnist of 3 Wire SportsAlan Abrahamson says, "There are two ways to look at the situation: one, the sky is falling.

"Or perhaps, in a weird way, an Oslo exit will have done the IOC a huge favor--by forcing Olympic leadership to focus, immediately and with clarity, on the issues at hand."

Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel discusses why he thinks no one wants to host the 2022 Winter Olympics."The only places interested in hosting the 2022 games are countries where actual citizens aren't allowed a real say in things--communist China and Kazakhstan, a presidential republic that coincidentally has only had one president since it split from the old USSR in 1989.

"Essentially, the entire world has told the IOC it's a corrupt joke."

Compiled byNicole Bennett

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