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Mahesh

25/10/23 05:55 AM IST

Olympic cities Selection

In News
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly declared India’s intention to host the Olympic Games, preferably in 2036.
Older system of selection
  • In the older system of electing an Olympic host, cities, through their respective national Olympic committees, would submit a letter of interest to the IOC to start a multi-year, multi-step evaluation process.
  • The bidding cities would complete a series of questionnaires, evaluated by the IOC.
  •  The second step of the process involved scrutiny from the IOC Evaluation Commission and a series of inspections of all venues before the final bids are put to vote at an IOC session, ending in a host being decided seven years in advance as per the Olympic Charter.
  • It often led to excessive spending among the bidders, to secure rights, often ending in huge debts, corruptions and scandals.
New Approach
  • Thomas Bach took over as the IOC president in 2013, he put in place the Olympic Agenda 2020, as a roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, approved by the 2014 IOC session.
  • The new process placed emphasis on three main aspects — flexibility, sustainability and cost-effectiveness — with the motto being ‘The Games adapt to the region, the region does not adapt to the Games’.
  • With respect to flexibility, the seven-year rule was done away with and there has been greater flexibility in deciding the hosts.
  • There is now a two-stage process — a continuous dialogue and a targeted dialogue — without any fixed deadlines, to assess, discuss and guide potential hosts.
  • The continuous dialogue is a non-committal stage not specific to any particular edition.
  • It is basically a discussion between the IOC’s Future Hosts Commission (FHC) and interested parties about the hosts’ vision for the Games, its purpose and long-term legacy.
  • This is followed by putting together a master plan and working out logistical details, with every potential host free to work out their own template.
  • Once there is seriousness in a bid to progress to the next level, it will enter the ‘targeted dialogue’ phase with the interested parties termed ‘preferred host’.
Targeted dialogue
  • In a targeted dialogue, the bids become more determined.
  • While there is again no time-frame for a targeted dialogue, it is anticipated to not exceed 12 months.
  • It explores the proposals to host a specific edition of the Olympic Games and brings the IOC’s executive board into the picture for detailed discussions.
  • This is where each of the ‘preferred hosts’ answer the FHC’s questions and provides guarantees on infrastructure, accommodation, security and public services among others and makes the final submission.
  • The FHC then prepares an advisory report for the executive board which has the power to either recommend a single host or shortlist more than one for elections by the IOC members.
Other Bidders
  • Besides India, the other confirmed nations interested are Mexico (spread across the four cities of Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tijuana), Indonesia (at the new capital of Nusantara which is still under construction), Turkey (Istanbul) and Poland (Warsaw).
  • India is yet to decide the city/cities where the Games will be organised.
  • Of these, Mexico is the only one to have previously hosted the Games in 1968.
  • Other potential bidders include Egypt, Seoul, China, Qatar, Hungary, Italy, Denmark, Canada and Germany.
Source- The Hindu

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