Brisbane in line for 2032 Games

Brisbane took a major step towards being named 2032 Olympic hosts after the International Olympic Committee said the Australian city had been picked as the preferred partner to start talks for the Games.

Thomas Bach, the IOC president, said a recommendation of the commission in charge of future hosts had been approved.

“This commission recommended to the IOC executive board to enter into a targeted dialogue with Brisbane 2032. The executive board has unanimously approved this recommendation,” Bach said.

Several cities and countries had expressed an interest in the 2032 Games including Brisbane, Indonesia, Budapest, China, Doha and Germany’s Ruhr valley among others.

Brisbane earned bonus points for its high percentage of existing venues, a good master plan, experience in organising major events and its favourable weather among others.

The IOC overhauled its bidding rules in 2019 to reduce costs and make the process easier for cities. There are no official candidate cities campaigning ahead of the vote, as has been the case in the past.

Instead, the IOC puts the preferred host to the vote at its session following another review by the commission. Kristin Kloster Aasen, who heads the Future Host Commission, said it was not yet clear when the IOC vote would be held, as it all depended on targeted dialogue with Brisbane, which starts right away.

“They are a very advanced project, a number of criteria that sit well with us. It has been moulded for a number of years, good legacy plans, good venue plan,” she said.

“There are many, many things that made us put this forward.”