Brisbane likely 2032 host city
BRISBANE: Australian Olympic chief John Coates says Brisbane’s bid to host the 2032 Olympic Games is as good as a done deal after it was awarded exclusive negotiation rights.
The Olympics and Paralympics are set to return to Australia after Brisbane, and the state of Queensland, was installed as the preferred bidder for the event by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at an executive meeting.
Numerous other cities, including Budapest, Istanbul and Doha, had previously flagged interest in hosting the 2032 games.
But the Australian bid has long been considered the favourite and Brisbane is now the sole candidate as part of a new decisionmaking system designed to avoid cities unlikely to win the rights wasting money on their bids.
Brisbane now has to go through some formalities before the IOC makes a host city announcement, possibly before Tokyo’s rescheduled Olympics begin in July.
‘‘It was a long night . . . but a very mature decision from the IOC,’’ said Coates, who stepped out of the virtual meeting for more than two hours while the Brisbane bid was discussed early yesterday morning.
‘‘The IOC now deal exclusively with us while we complete the questionnaire.
‘‘The other cities who have shown interest have been parked . . . It’s significant recognition.
‘‘It will go to a vote and we’ve got to get 50% plus one.
‘‘I’ll be able to get those numbers.’’
Brisbane, if negotiations conclude successfully, would be the third Australian city to host the Olympics after Melbourne had the honour in 1956 and Sydney in 2000.
Coates, who is also IOC vicepresident, said staging the Olympics would essentially cost Queensland nothing despite it carrying a $A4.5 billion ($NZ4.82 billion) price tag.
The IOC is promising at least $A2.5 billion to cover the games’ operations, further costs to be covered by sponsorships and ticket sales.
About 90% of the proposed venues already exist, new or upgraded facilities being planned to coincide with the growth of Queensland over the next 11 years.
A feasibility study in February proposed a 50,000capacity Brisbane Olympic Stadium for ceremonies and athletics, as well as a 15,000seat Brisbane Indoor Sports Centre to host basketball and a 15,000seat Brisbane Arena for swimming and water polo as the three major wish list items.
These sports could be hosted at existing venues though, as organisers remain conscious of avoiding the ‘‘white elephants’’ seen in countries such as Brazil and Greece once an Olympics has been held.
The Gold Coast, fresh from staging the Commonwealth Games in 2018, and Sunshine Coast would also act as event and village hubs, while football games could be held in stadiums across regional Queensland as well as at the Sydney Football Stadium and Melbourne’s AAMI Park.
A report this month forecast the Queensland bid would deliver a $A36 billion windfall for the state.
IOC president Thomas Bach said Brisbane ‘‘proposes sustainable games in line with the region’s longterm strategy and using primarily existing and temporary venues’’.
Bach said the decision to make Brisbane its preferred partner ‘‘was not a decision against anybody’’.
‘‘The commitment of Australia and Oceania to Olympic sports has grown remarkably since the fantastic Olympic Games Sydney 2000,’’ he said.
‘‘This is why we see such strong public support.
‘‘We decided to seize an opportunity to take to the next stage our discussions about returning 32 years later.’’ — AAP