Japanese media giant Dentsu has been awarded the exclusive broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games from 2018 to and 2024 in 22 Asian countries. 

World leading advertising agency Dentsu was the Asian broadcast partner for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games and is the broadcast partner in the region for the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

The agreement means Dentsu will continue to distribute broadcast rights in Afghanistan Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

In a statement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) described Dentsu as the “exclusive gatekeeper for broadcast rights” in all languages and all media platforms, including television, radio and the Internet. 

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “This agreement ensures Olympic broadcast coverage for fans across the region, including on free-to-air television. Having begun our broadcast relationship with Dentsu at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, I am pleased we will continue through to 2024.”

The deal also encompasses Youth Olympic Games.

Kiyoshi Nakamura, Executive Officer of Dentsu said: "Following the acquisition of the broadcast rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, we are delighted to strengthen the ongoing relationship between the IOC and Dentsu through the distribution of the broadcast and exhibition rights for all the Olympic Games until 2024. We are dedicated to contributing to the long-term development of the Olympic Movement and to deliver the excitement of the Olympics to the fans in these Asian countries and territories.”

IOC Vice-President Zaiqing Yu, Delegate IOC Member for Broadcast Rights in Asia, said: “Dentsu has a good understanding of the region’s commercial and broadcast environment, and their expertise and insight will help the Olympic Movement develop its presence and ensure excellent Olympic broadcast coverage of future Games.”

The agreement follows the IOC’s recent awarding of 2018-2024 broadcast rights to Eurosport in Europe and beIN in the Middle East. 

Paris officially launched its long anticipated bid for the 2024 Games on Tuesday, with a message of strong backing from the state and the public. 

The leaders of the bid also said a referendum was unlikely to be required. 

In its bid to host the Games, Paris is competing against Boston and Hamburg, which both face public referendums in order to progress their bids, as well as Rome and a likely bid from Budapest and other potential contenders including Baku and Doha.

“We are all very much motivated and enthusiastic to be able to achieve unanimity in this ambition to make Paris an Olympic and Paralympic city in 2024,” said bid committee chairman Bernard Lapasset.

“Bidding for the Games is a unique and exciting project for a country. This is an ambitious project that goes beyond sport, as its reach is global and significant impact at all levels and for the whole country.

“As we move forward with our bid, it is very pleasing to see today that we already have the full support of the city, regional and national governments as well as the CNOSF and the French sports movement – it is wonderful to also receive significant public support and real backing from our athletes.”

Lapasset added that the bid would “excite, unite and enthuse the people of Paris, our entire nation and lovers of Olympic and Paralympic sport all over the world.”

Asked by Le Monde after the launch if there would be a referendum on the bid, Lapasset said “I don’t think there will be one.”

This position was backed up by Etienne Thobois, chief executive of Paris 2024 bid committee who told media: “As of today there is no plan for a referendum at this stage.”

Lapasset and Thobois reportedly both stressed that public consultation will be crucial as the bid progresses. 

The bid committee drew attention to France’s current form in hosting major sports events, which includes the World Rowing Championships and the Basketball European Championships in 2015, EURO 2016, the World Handball Championships in 2017 and the Ryder Cup in 2018.

2024 marks the centenary of the last and only time Paris has hosted the Olympic Games, in 1924.  The city unsuccessfully bid for the Games in 1992, 2008 and 2012. 

But Thobois said “We are looking forward, we are not looking backwards… we are into Agenda 2020, not Agenda 1920.”

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said Paris was “looking forward to an exciting and bold future whilst remaining true to its rich sporting and cultural traditions.

“We aim to highlight the unity and the solidarity of a cosmopolitan city, which I am sure will be one of the key strengths to win.”

The host city of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be elected by IOC members in a secret ballot at the body’s 130th Session in the Peruvian capital of Lima in September 2017.

On his first visit to New Zealand on Tuesday, president Thomas Bach said the IOC is ready to look into a wider range of potential host nations – including New Zealand.

“You cannot restrict the right to host the Olympics to just 20 countries”, he said at a press conference.

“The Olympic Games are universal and we should open doors and windows. If New Zealand is ready to look into it, we are ready.”

He also said the changes brought about by Olympic Agenda 2020 encouraged countries to think about how the Olympic Games could fit into the social, economic, environmental and sporting needs of a country.

Bach was visiting to open the new National Olympic Committee headquarters in Auckland, where he was welcomed with a traditional “powhiri” welcome ceremony.

“Like the Olympic Movement, the welcome ceremony signifies peace, friendship and equality, and it shows how New Zealanders embrace the same values we do of tolerance and understanding through sport”, he said.

He was greeted by IOC Members Barry Maister – who is also tourism director at Destination Marlborough, and Barbara Kendall, who is also vice president of the International Surfing Association.

He also met with Minister for Sport and Health, Dr Jonathan Coleman, as well as members of the National Olympic Committee and national sports federations.

On Wednesday, Bach visited athletes at the Rowing New Zealand High Performance Centre in Cambridge, and after a visit to the local school he went on to the Avantidrome home of New Zealand Cycling, where he met a number of New Zealand Olympic medallists and hopefuls for next year's Games in Rio de Janeiro.

President Bach discussed discussed Rio 2016, changes to the sports programme and the Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms with a group of 20 New Zealand athletes at the Avantidrome.

South Africa is certain to bid for the Olympic Games but will not rush into it now Durban is the only bidder for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. 

Instead, the government and sports authorities are about to start a process of deciding whether it is feasible to bid for the 2024 Olympic Games so soon after Durban 2022.

“The Olympic Games will be the next thing. When? 2024? I don’t know,” said Fikile Mbalula, South Africa’s minister of sport and recreation.

“We now have the Commonwealth Games, but the fact that we will host [the Olympics] in the future and we will have an appetite is not off the radar,” he told HOST CITY at the launch of Durban’s Commonwealth Games bid in London last week.

With Edmonton pulling out of the race to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Durban is in pole position to be awarded the hosting rights on 2 September, subject to the Commonwealth Games Federation’s rigorous evaluation process. 

The deadline for submitting a bid for the 2024 Olympic Games is less than four weeks later.

Asked if there is a timeframe for announcing whether South Africa will put in a bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, Mbalula said “Not at all. Look, the question is not like thinking on our toes. 

“We know for a fact that we are here now for the Commonwealth Games and we are not like playing lotto, trying to catch everything at any time and going for the bigger prize.”

An important part of South Africa’s decision-making will be evaluating whether it would be able to provide the financial guarantees necessary to bid for the Olympic Games two years after the Commonwealth Games. 

“It might not be the case,” Mbalula said, “like we were not in the position to back Olympics three years ago and we backed off because of the challenges we faced and the fact that we hosted the World Cup. We needed a breather.”

“We don’t want to do things that we will not be in a position to handle. We can handle the Commonwealth Games now – and if we look in the next two, three, six years to come, if we can handle the Olympics then we will look at that and make a proper evaluation about it.

“But it’s not like just a knee jerk reaction, because the world wants us to host and therefore we can – it’s not about that.

“We will do it – it might not be me, there will be somebody in this government that will have that challenge of hosting the Olympics in the future. 

“And that will be most welcome. It’s a very important mega event that all nations aspire to host, globally.

“Our bigger prize now is the Commonwealth Games and we are embracing that with both hands.

“It’s now or never, and this is what we must embrace as a nation and move forward, and give opportunities to young people and those who grew up when South Africa was in total isolation.”

Any Olympic bid would be launched by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC). 

“We as SASCOC and the government have not had any discussions in relation to a possible bid to host the Olympic Games. We would have to first sit down with government and look at what is feasible for the country. As yet these initial discussions have not taken place,” Mark Alexander, CEO of Durban 2022 and SASCOC board member told HOST CITY.

“Our objective at the moment is to focus on the Commonwealth Games and we totally committed to ensuring that we meet our obligations that we presented to the Commonwealth Games Federation in London.”

Twelve world governments have pledged US$6.45m towards an anti-doping fund set up by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is matching funds with the aim of creating a joint fund of US$20m.

The fund was set in motion by the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 and will be administered by the World Anti-Doping Agency. 

The world governments that responded to a call to match the IOC funding are China, France, Ivory Coast, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the US and Sweden.

The donations mean that the fund will have a starting budget of almost US$13 million. 

“WADA is very pleased with the financial commitments that this partnership has generated for the fight against doping in sport”, said WADA president and IOC vice president Sir Craig Reedie.

“The fund allocated by the IOC has received the commitment of governments of the world to contribute a total of US$ 6,452,296. The funds will provide a tremendous boost to WADA in their efforts to carry out innovative, anti-doping research focussed on protecting the clean athletes.”

The 12 governments have committed to pay WADA in full by 31 March 2016.  

As a separate fund for research in the fight against doping, the IOC will also administer the balance of US$3.55m remaining from the full US$10m it approved as part of Olympic Agenda 2020.

These funds will be allocated to researchers involved in athlete-centred projects in science and society. Four applications from researchers in Spain and Australia have already been selected. 

“With Olympic Agenda 2020, we are changing the philosophy with regard to the credibility of sports competitions and of athletes,” said IOC president Thomas Bach. 

“We must consider every cent in the fight against doping as an investment in the future of Olympic sport, not as an expense. This fund clearly shows that we support innovative anti-doping research that will lead to better protection of the clean athletes.”

Sir Craig Reedie was a keynote speaker at HOST CITY Bid to Win in October 2014, where Agenda 2020 was discussed before its unanimous adoption by the IOC. 

Integrity in events will be a key theme of HOST CITY 2015. 

Tokyo 2020 has signed Nomura Holdings as a Gold Partner in the category “Securities”.

 “I am delighted that today Tokyo 2020 has concluded a Gold Partner agreement with Nomura Holdings, Inc,” said Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori.

“Naturally, I look forward to the support that Nomura will provide as a Tokyo 2020 Gold Partner, but I also hope that the company will continue the vital role it is playing in the securities market, which forms the foundation of the Japanese economy.”

Nomura provides services to individuals, institutions, corporates and governments through its three business divisions: Retail, Asset Management, and Wholesale (Global Markets and Investment Banking). 

“We are proud to support athletes on their journey to the Tokyo 2020 Games,” said Nomura Group CEO Koji Nagai.

“The Olympic and Paralympic Games provide significant economic benefits to host countries and we see the Tokyo 2020 Games as the perfect opportunity to revitalize the Japanese economy. 

“By supporting athletes aiming for their personal best and companies adapting to a changing environment, we hope to contribute to the success of the Tokyo 2020 Games while fostering economic growth and social development in Japan.”

As well as helping to fund the delivery of the Games, domestic sponsors are a core component of Tokyo 2020’s marketing programme. They are accorded the rights to use Olympic and Paralympic designations and imagery including emblems, mascots and slogans. 

As Gold Partners, the top tier domestic sponsors, Nomura joins Asahi, Canon, Eneos, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Nissay, NEC, NTT and Fujitsu.

In addition to domestic sponsors, the IOC’s Worldwide Olympic (TOP) Partners – Coca-Cola, Atos, Bridgestone, Dow, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter and Gamble, Samsung, Toyota and Visa – also contribute to the financing and delivery of the Games. 

A bid from Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games overcame a significant hurdle today as the city’s councillors voted in its favour.

The next step will be a public consultation before a final decision on the bid will be made in June. 

A recent national opinion poll found that 61 per cent of the French public would be in favour of Paris hosting the Games.

"Now we are off on an Olympic adventure," said Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris.

According to local sources, 163 city councillors voted overwhelmingly in favour of bidding for the 2024 Olympic Games, with support coming from the majority of political parties. 

President Francois Hollande, who publically backed the bid in November, is due to meet with IOC president Thomas Bach on in Lausanne on Thursday to discuss Paris’s potential candidacy.

Paris last hosted the Olympic Games in 1924, which would make 2024 a centenary event for the city.

It last bid for the Olympic Games in 2012, which went to London despite Paris being the early favourite.

Bernard Lapasset, vice president of the French National Olympic Committee, presented a report to Hildago and the government on Thursday. 

"France has the qualities to win," he said.

If the public consultation works out in favour of the bid, Paris would join Rome, Hamburg and Boston in a competitive race. 

The Indian Olympic Committee is also said to be considering a bid for the 2024 Olympic Games.

Once a city has announced a bid, it can work with the IOC through its new “invitation phase” of the Olympic bidding procedure. The deadline for applying to bid for the Games is September 15th 2015.

HOST CITY: Rights holders, hosts and organizers of mega sports events have a number of requirements and expectations about the structure and content of opening and closing ceremonies. How do you balance these requirements, and how do you avoid ceremonies becoming formulaic?

Antonio Abete: Producing a sports event requires commitment, experience, creativity and managing skills. This is why the best companies in the world take the field when it’s time to organise these important ceremonies. Expectations are always high: sports ceremonies are among the most watched television events in the world. 

On average, more than 4 billion people watch Olympic ceremonies. These events are in charge of telling the story of the country, showing its traditions, celebrating its future. They must meet technical demands as well as the emotional needs of the television audience and live viewers. Finding the right balance it is not simple; for this reason, long experiences together with the will to experiment with creativity are essential. 

It is difficult to work in a stadium: there are a lot of limits, such as the field of play, which is untouchable. You need to be creative if you want to avoid banality and keep the viewers attention high. You have to think outside the box and interchange charged-up moments with poetic ones. The viewers will be able to feel a wide range of emotions thanks to the successions of performances. 

HOST CITY: How important for the host city are the opportunities that mega sports events present for hosting other concurrent events, such as cultural festivals and business events, and how can a host city maximise these opportunities? 

Antonio Abete: The host city has got a great opportunity to highlight and promote its heritage through the world. It is essential that the city works as the leader of the event and creates an appropriate structure for all the accessory events. The city should be the protagonist in order to allow the public to discover the resources of its land. During these events, sport is linked with social issues, politics, culture and the future of the society that it is representing. Host cities must be able to handle all these different aspects and adopt a long-term strategy to make the shows more successful. 

HOST CITY: How do you see event production changing in 2015 and beyond?

Antonio Abete: There are no specific trends or determined directions. We are a leading player in event history, and we are aware of what we offer and what we can produce. 

The events industry is influenced by trends, like every industry, mostly because of new technologies, which are now essential while creating and producing every kind of event. We have been the first one to try new strategies, find innovative instruments and changing the rules. We are one of the few companies in the world, and the only Italian company, to be licensed to organise Olympic Ceremonies. This makes us proud and encourages us in improving our services and our skills more and more. 

German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has selected Hamburg instead of Berlin as the city it will take forward to bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, citing public support as the decisive factor. 

Subject to ratification by the DOSB board on 21 March, the northern port city of Hamburg will join Rome and Boston in the race to host the 2024 Olympic Games.

The vote was cast by the executive board of the DOSB. 

"We agreed by majority for the city of Hamburg and that is why we are standing here today, united, with this recommendation," said Alfons Hörmann, the DOSB president, who chose not take part in the vote himself for “reasons of neutrality”.

Recent opinion polls have demonstrated that public support for a Games bid is significantly higher in Hamburg than in Berlin. 64 per cent of Hamburgers support the bid, compared to just 55 per cent of Berliners.

"There were various points that helped us make our decision," Hörmann said. 

"We had to consider the prevailing support in the cities, and the result of the survey was one of the things that played a role here."

Hamburg’s compact venue plan was also cited as an influencing factor. Unlike Berlin, Hamburg has no existing Olympic Stadium and plans to build a new one in an island in the city. 

Despite this, the DOSB determined Hamburg’s venue plan to be sustainable. 

"The city fits exactly to the Agenda 2020 reform of the IOC," said Hörmann.

The city of Hamburg will hold a referendum on whether to bid for the Games before 15 September, by which time all interested cities must apply to the IOC.

The German city of Munich pulled out of bidding for the 2022 Winter Games after a residents voted against bidding in a referendum. 

Munich hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1972. Berlin hosted the Olympic Games in 1936, while Hamburg has never hosted an Olympic Games.

The host city of the 2024 Games will be announced in Lima in mid-2017.

The 2016 Olympic Games will not be affected by the economic slump or the scandal engulfing Brazil’s government and its national oil company, according to organising committee’s communications director Mario Andrada.

Construction projects for the Games, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016, are back on track and will not be held up, despite the worrying prospect that some contractors may be linked to the scandal, Andrada said in an exclusive interview with HOST CITY.

He also said the state government needs to be mobilised to clean up the sailing venue in Guanabara Bay in time.

Brazil’s economy was booming when Rio de Janeiro was awarded the hosting rights in 2009 but the economy failed to grow in 2014 and remains depressed.

The country’s problems are compounded by the fact that several politicians and companies have been implicated in bribery issues relating to national oil producer, Petrobras.

“Brazil is going through a political and an economic crisis,” Andrada said. 

“Petrobras has very complicated issues to manage. Some of the top Brazilian companies have been affected by this because they have been involved in corruption scandal.

“That’s worrying on our side because of the construction work on the Olympic Games.”

While the organising committee is not itself implicated in the scandal – “We are not connected to these allegations in any way, shape or form” – any contractors found to be connected to the Petrobras scandal will be taken off Olympic projects. 

The organisers of the Games have prepared for this by ensuring that venue construction projects are contracted to more than one company.

“Each of the venues is being delivered by two or more construction companies. So if one of them is facing trouble through the Petrobras scandal due to lack of finance, the other companies are able to carry on.

“So far we have been able to be immune to this situation because the construction system guarantees that one of the companies hired for the job will do the job.”

Rio 2016 came under fire last year for a seriously delayed start to venue construction work but it is now on track. 

“It’s not easy to sail through stormy waters, but we have been able to keep the pace,” said Andrada. 

The International Olympic Committee’s coordination commission visited Rio de Janeiro in February and gave an overall positive assessment but identified areas of concern, such as the sailing venue. 

“It was a very favourable visit but we have an issue in Guanabara Bay where the sailing competitions will take place,” said Andrada.

“We need to be more effective in cleaning the bay and helping the government to clean the bay. 

“It’s a matter of mobilising the government. It’s a huge project that involves 12 counties around the bay, so it can only be carried out by the state government.

“The point is to help them to get technicians and experts to work together.”

The test event for sailing starts on 15th August 2015. 

“We still have time to clean it up and to make sure the field of play will be totally clean. Everybody needs to push in the right direction.” 

Construction work on the Olympic Park in Barra has made huge strides since the IOC voiced concerns a year ago, Andrada said, with the work clearly visible above ground. 

“There is a huge amount of things to do but everything is moving in the way we want it to. We are cautiously optimistic but confident.”

Despite the economic slowdown, the organising committee is managing to operate with completely private finance. 

“We are still running the organising committee with private money. This will probably be the first Olympic Games in history where the organising committee did all its work without public funding.

“I believe the Games are the good news for Brazil in the middle of the Petrobras scandal and all the political issues.” 

Mario Andrada was a VIP speaker at HOST CITY Bid to Win and is set to speak again at HOST CITY 2015: The Largest Meeting of Cities, Sports, Business and Cultural Events. Book your place now by contacting adam.soroka@cavendishgroup.co.uk