IOC sets up group to look at double Olympic picks
The International Olympic Committee has moved closer toward picking both Los Angeles and Paris to host a Summer Games in an unprecedented double vote this year.
IOC President Thomas Bach has repeatedly hinted at picking L.A. and Paris by awarding both the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games hosting rights at the IOC Session on Sept. 13.
Only the 2024 games is currently scheduled to be voted on in Lima, Peru.
“All the options are on the table, and this includes also the ‘24-’28 procedure and vote,” Bach said Friday when announcing a working group to study changing the candidate process.
The IOC executive board asked its four vice-presidents to “explore changes” in Olympic bidding and report back in July.
“We have two excellent candidates there from two major Olympic countries,” Bach said at a news conference after a two-day board meeting. “This is a position you like to be in.”
Bach said the four-man working group will make proposals to the board and full membership. They meet from July 9 to 12 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where L.A. and Paris will make formal presentations of their 2024 hosting plans.
A full IOC meeting can change the Olympic Charter which currently says host cities must be picked seven years in advance.
“You must always have room for interpretation to adapt to changing times,” said Bach, who noted he co-wrote the current book of Olympic rules. “The charter is flexible enough also in this respect.”
Los Angeles and Paris are in a two-candidate race after several rivals dropped out facing public opposition to expected spiralling costs and doubts about the long-term value of being an Olympic host.
Since December, Bach has repeated warnings about a bid process that produces “too many losers,” suggesting concerns that the city which lost a 2024 vote would not return with a candidacy for the 2028 Olympics.
“We are in a comfortable situation now it will be up to the working group how to best explore, how to best exploit, the positive situation,” Bach said. “We should not miss the opportunity to explore this opportunity.”