Reporting from Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia – On Thursday night in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak officially opened the global Olympic Committee’s (IOC) 128th all-members session – kicking off what will be a very busy Friday for cities looking to host the Olympic Games.
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Blatter is also an IOC member but is not attending the 128th Congress in Malaysia, where delegates will decide the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics. The towering basketballer is representing Beijing’s bid for the 2022 Olympics, and the…
“In a nutshell, what happened there is quite simply that Boston obviously did not deliver on promises they made to USOC when they were selected”.
Boston’s refusal to give the USOC a blank taxpayer check could set a new standard, making it hard to convince other major U.S. cities that committing to massive construction and infrastructure upgrades is really worth it.
Ultimately, Boston’s bid was scuttled by waning support from Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a Democrat and an early supporter of the bid, and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, mainly because both can read a poll.
So far Rome, Paris, Budapest and Germany’s Hamburg have declared their candidacies. 2016 will be in Brazil and 2020 in Japan, so the Olympics are due to go back to Europe in 2024.
Bach also said he hopes the decision on the next U.S. bid city will involve discussions that are a little bit more oriented on facts than emotions..
Bach is the man behind the Olympic movement’s alleged makeover from a budget-busting monolith demanding that host cities mortgage their future to pay for their bloated model of the Games to a streamlined, more reasonable approach.
The host city contract, required by the IOC, obligates the city to assume financial responsibility for any shortfalls involving the staging of the Olympics and Paralympics.
“As a result, we have reached a mutual agreement to withdraw Boston’s bid”, Blackmun said.
Boston’s bid was in trouble nearly as soon as the USOC chose the New England city in January ahead of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington.
The USOC has had talks with Los Angeles officials already, according to insidethegames and the Los Angeles Times. “We’re sure that USOC will deliver on this commitment”. All bids must be submitted to the worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) by mid-September. “With a bit of luck, they’ll have another one soon”, said Sir Craig Reedie, IOC executive board member.
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“I don’t think they need to save face”, Samaranch said. “But the demands that the IOC makes to host cities is unreasonable”. I saw his comment today, and the USOC will never admit this but, it’s that guarantee that ultimately helps with poor polling numbers, concerned the senate president, the speaker, the governor.
