HOST CITY Bid to Win, the inaugural event organised by the leading magazine for hosting major events, is attracting the highest calibre of speakers. 

Sir Craig Reedie, Vice President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed that he will deliver the keynote address to the conference, on the subject of “Why Should Cities Bid for Events?”

The subject is highly topical as the conference takes place a few weeks before the IOC is set to announce the recommendations of its Olympic Agenda 2020 working groups, the foremost of which is a review of bidding procedure to boost the appeal of the Games.

After his keynote address, Sir Craig Reedie will be joined by Hasan Arat, a member of the Agenda 2020 working group on bidding procedure, on a panel discussion entitled “Olympic Agenda 2020: The Bidding Process Under Review”. 

While the possible outcomes of Olympic Agenda 2020 will not be revealed until after the Extraordinary IOC Session on December 8th in Monte Carlo, the panel discussion at Bid To Win will address many of the concerns under review, focusing on the recommendations of four European NOCs. 

This will be followed by an exclusive update from Rio 2016 on progress in the Olympic host city. The panel sessions that follow address the key concerns of cities and rights holders of sports, business and cultural events.

Other confirmed speakers include: Jürgen Müller (Head of FIFA World Cup); Wang Wei (Vice Chairman, Beijing Olympic City Development Association); David Grevemberg (CEO, Commonwealth Games Federation); Janez Kocijancic (Vice President, International Ski Federation; Dimitri Kerkentzes, (Chief of Staff, BIE); Panos Protopsaltis (Director of Transport, Baku 2015); ROCK IN RIO; Joe O’Neill (International Business Development Director, ARENA GROUP); Peter Tindemans (Secretary-General, EUROSCIENCE); Ali Kiremitçioglu (CEO, Istanbul 2020 Bid Committee); Iain Edmondson (Head of Major Events, London & Partners); Jordi Joly, (CEO, Barcelona City Council); Georg Spazier (CEO, Innsbruck Tirol Sports); Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros (CEO, ICSS Europe); Mike Lee OBE (Chairman, VERO); Helen Rowbotham (Director of Consulting, CSM); Robert Datnow (Managing Director, The Sports Consultancy); Lars Haue-Pedersen (Managing Director, TSE Consulting); Ben Avison, (Editorial Director, HOST CITY); Koos Tesselaar (Vice-Chairman, NIBC Bank).

“The momentum around Bid to Win has built up so quickly and we are thrilled to have such a distinguished array of speakers confirmed at this stage,” said Ben Avison, Editorial Director of HOST CITY and Chairman of Bid to Win. “The beautiful St James’ Court Taj Hotel will be the perfect venue for the occasion.”

HOST CITY Bid To Win conference takes place on Tuesday 28th October, with a drinks and buffet reception on the evening of Monday 27th October. To REGISTER visit www.bidtowin-hostcity.net

The new golf course that is being developed for Rio 2016 has proved a controversial project owing to its location, speed of development and the fact the city already has a course that has hosted major events.

The course is being developed in a nature reserve located in the Barra da Tijuca area of the city, a suburb that is also well known for its expensive real estate. Plans for the course include the construction of 160 high-end apartments that are selling for as much as $7m (€5.5m).

Judge Eduardo Klasner said in a hearing last week that the defendants – the city and the developer – and the public prosecutor must find a way to protect the nature reserve with construction to be halted if a compromise is not reached.

The prosecutor has requested that a number of holes on the course be altered and has asked the developer to return some of the land to the ecological reserve. Judge Klasner has allowed sodding on the course to continue, but the facility must be completed before the Brazilian summer begins in December, with no imminent ruling on the case expected.

Felli in April was deployed by the IOC as a senior troubleshooter for Rio 2016 and said he is confident the ongoing troubles will not stop a test event from taking place ahead of the Games, either late in 2015 or early in 2016. 

“Our understanding today is that we will be ready for the first test event which will be needed to be done for the golf,” Felli told the Associated Press news agency. “We are satisfied on the progress we see today. But we are not playing tomorrow. We know that we are going to play for the test event.”

Carlos Nuzman, head of the Rio 2016 organising committee and president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, said the matter is now in the hands of the city and Mayor Eduardo Paes. “Golf will be in the Olympics,” Nuzman said. “The city is responsible for the golf course.”

Rio 2016 last week stepped up its preparations for the Olympics by unveiling its ticketing strategy. More than half of the tickets available for the summer Games will be priced at less than R70 (€24/$31).

In a marked contrast to its previous assessment, the IOC coordination commission has left Rio de Janeiro confident that Games preparations are back on track. 

Over three days, the monitoring authority noted crucial improvements to venue works, public engagement and the support and coordination of the government. However, the timeframes for finishing construction and accommodation are particularly pressing, the commission observed. 

“We leave Rio satisfied with the progress that has been made since our visit last March,” said Nawal El Moutawakel, chair of the commission. “We remain confident that, despite a very tight schedule, our Brazilian partners will deliver successful Games.” 

The commission scrutinised the construction of venues and hotels particularly closely during the visit. “Although the schedule remains tight, the Rio team clearly demonstrated that they had the situation under control, with good progress being made,” the IOC said in a statement.

“Accommodation was always going to be a challenge with the large number of hotels that have to be built ahead of the Games, but very clear and reassuring information was provided to the Commission that the 68 new hotels under construction were on track.”

Moutawakel said “As we enter the final two years of preparations, we are able to see that the core works are progressing at full speed, particularly in venue construction, where we have been receiving solid development reports. We were also able to see first-hand the advancements being made, during our venue tour on Tuesday.”

The commission visited the Olympic Golf Course, the Olympic Village, the Deodoro Olympic Park, and the Barra Olympic Park, where they were joined by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. 

“The strong commitment of the Brazilian authorities to the success of the Rio 2016 Games has been underlined to us by the presence of President Rousseff during our visit to the Olympic Park yesterday,” said Moutawakel. 

Other government partners that met with the IOC commission included Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, Governor Luiz Fernando Pezão, and General Fernando Azevedo E Silva from the Olympic Public Authority (APO). 

The commission heard that five times more was being invested in city development projects than in venue construction, with three bus rapid transit lines, a new metro, improved sanitation system coverage, better flood control, a city operations centre, and the regeneration of the city’s port area underway.

Despite the country’s descent into recession this year, the coordination commission was told that a large part of Games and civic infrastructure projects are being financed by private funds. 

"With the IOC's guidance and the help of our sponsors, we have the confidence we need,” said Carlos Nuzman, president of the Rio 2016 organising committee. “It is very rewarding when we look around and see our partners from the city, state and federal governments, building the Games with us."

The commission was also encouraged by marketing activities. “Rio 2016 has begun to engage in earnest with the public this winter and we were able to take stock of what has already been done,” said Moutawakel. “We were pleased to hear that this engagement will continue with upcoming events like ticket sign-up, mascot launch, the Cultural Olympiad and test events.”

The IOC statement described the test event schedule, which will feature more than 40 events in 2015 and early 2016, as “ambitious”, noting that the organising committee is “advancing full speed ahead towards these events”.

Arup will provide advice for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to develop venues and infrastructure for the Games.

Arup’s service for the Tokyo Olympics includes masterplan review and advice for cross-sectorial specialty areas such as transport, security, sustainability and legacy. Jointly with partner consultant AECOM, Arup will also advise on the venue briefs and contribute to the strategy development for overall delivery of design and construction through the preparation stage to the legacy transformation.

“Arup is proud to have played a part in renewing Beijing and London in advance of the Olympics and is looking forward to continuing our contribution to the 2020 Tokyo Games,” Jerome Frost, the Arup director who was head of design and regeneration for the London Olympics, said.

“Through our experience in preparing cities for the Olympics and other international events, the firm has been responsible for much of the urban renewal of the host cities, ensuring the events serve as a catalyst for long-term investment and development.”

The partnership comes with construction work on Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium for the Games being delayed until mid-December at the earliest, according to the Japan Sport Council (JSC).

Under proposals, the city’s current National Stadium will be demolished for a $1.6bn (€1.2bn) 80,000-capacity facility to be built in its place. However, the demolition of the existing arena has faced a raft of delays in light of concerns over construction costs.

The JSC owns the current national stadium but plans have been put back once more due to complaints of irregularities in an earlier round of bids for the demolition project. A mid-December start date would be five months later than work on the stadium was originally slated to begin.

A Tokyo construction firm filed a complaint with the Government Procurement Review Board after a second round of bidding in the summer. The first round failed as all bids submitted were too high. 

“There was a complaint about the process and it was recommended to us that we hold another round of bidding," a JSC official said, according to the Reuters news agency. “We accepted that suggestion.”

A JSC internal investigation has led it to reject claims by workers from the company in question that bids were opened before the final price was set and that a firm other than the lowest bidder secured the job. The Government Procurement Review Board ordered another round of bidding despite reporting no evidence of wrongdoing.

Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura, whose ministry is in charge of Games preparation, admitted to “basic mistakes” being made in the process last month. 

He added: “This is extremely regrettable and we are taking it extremely seriously. We are recommending that another round of bidding be held.”

The JSC remains confident of meeting a contraction deadline for the new stadium to host matches when Japan stages the 2019 edition of the IRB Rugby World Cup.

Tokyo 2020 organisers are reviewing the locations of their current venue plans because of concerns over the rising costs of the Games.

Lord Sebastian Coe said on Tuesday that the bidding procedures for major events such as the Olympic Games must retain the “human element”. 

As well as being vice president of the IAAF and a key figure behind London’s successful bid, Lord Coe is a member of the Olympic Agenda 2020 working group that is currently reviewing the bidding procedure for the Olympic Games.

“It’s quite dangerous to think that you can choreograph every moment of a bid,” Lord Coe told delegates at Securing Sport 2014 in London. “For a bid to win and gain acceptance you need personal relationships. They have got to work alongside an organising committee for many years – you need to know that the team that is bidding will also make a good organising team."

Lord Coe also contributed to the IOC’s last major review, the Olympic Commission 2000 which, he says, “made it very tough for bidding cities” while bringing about positive changes such as managing interaction between IOC members and bidding cities. 

“There’s a balance. We have to be careful not to take the human element out. And it’s hard to be told that you can’t just sit down with an IOC member and explain what the transportation or security strategy is.”

Asked about the issue of gifts, Lord Coe affirmed that he had never been offered or accepted any gifts in relation to bidding procedures. 

“We all probably understand the difference between a commemorative plate and a calendar and something more substantive. The law of common sense should prevail.”

The review of bidding procedure will be under discussion at HOST CITY Bid to Win on 28th October in London. Register at www.bidtowin-hostcity.net

The COA is currently pressing ahead with preparations for Buenos Aires’ staging of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, with the event being seen as a potential springboard for a tilt at the Olympic Games itself.

In a statement, the COA said that it would be “an honour” to bid for either edition of the Games and pinpointed Patagonia, utilising the Andes Mountains, as a potential option for a winter Olympics.

An Argentine winter Olympics would break new ground for the International Olympic Committee, with the event having never previously set foot outside the Northern Hemisphere. 

Argentina’s last bid for the summer Games saw Buenos Aires eliminated in the first round of voting as Athens went on to clinch the 2004 event. The Games will take to South America for the first time in 2016 when Rio de Janeiro hosts the event in Argentina’s regional rival, Brazil. 

The COA’s statement comes after the IOC last week praised Buenos Aires’ hosting plans for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, which will focus on engaging with the city’s sizeable inner-city population. The IOC stated that the city had already made “impressive headway” in its preparations for the event, which concluded its second edition in Nanjing, China on August 28.

Buenos Aires was awarded the 2018 Youth Olympics in July 2013. The city beat Colombian city Medellin by 49 to 39 votes in the second round of voting by IOC members. In the first round, Scottish city Glasgow was eliminated after getting only 13 votes, compared to 40 for Buenos Aires and 32 for Medellin.

Arup, which was appointed to serve as the lead adviser of the 2020 Games earlier this month, will work alongside AECOM to contribute towards strategy for the overall delivery of venue design and construction.

AECOM will also review the Games’ master plan and advise on the associated transportation, security, sustainability and legacy components. It will be the global company’s third consecutive Olympics after it was also responsible for the London 2012 and bid-winning Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games master plans.

“Olympic Games are an important part of AECOM’s success in regenerating and promoting cities around the world,” Michael S. Burke, AECOM president and chief executive, said. “By harnessing our global expertise as the world’s premier fully integrated infrastructure firm, AECOM will be able to support the Tokyo Olympic Organising Committee in delivering a memorable Olympic Games.”

Part of AECOM’s presence around the Games preparations will be to hold a number of workshops in Tokyo focused on the delivery of the Games and its subsequent legacy.

Meanwhile, the Korean government has confirmed that the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2018 winter Olympics in PyeongChang will take place in the city.

The decision backtracks on a proposal to renovate an existing sports centre in Gangneung to host the ceremonies in order to rein in costs. A purpose-built facility will now hold the events in PyeongChang.

The Gangneung plans had proved deeply controversial and a protest group said in a statement on Monday: “If the government goes through with the plan to move the opening and closing ceremonies outside PyeongChang, we will stage a boycott of the Olympics. If they were moved to Gangneung, it should be called Gangneung Olympics. It is outrageous for the government to be even considering such a move with only just under four years left until the Games.”

Tokyo 2020’s 39-year old Executive Board member and Olympian, Koji Murofushi, has been appointed Sport Director of the organising committee. 

The position of Sport Director is a crucial role within the organising committee and one that requires the experience of a top athlete. 

“I've had the honour of competing in four Summer Olympic Games from Sydney 2000 to London 2012 and I know what it takes to make a great Olympic experience for athletes,” said Murofushi.

“In 2020, we will host the entire world and I want to create an environment at the Tokyo Games that will enable athletes to compete and perform to the peak of their abilities. I am 100 per cent committed to making these Games the best ever,” said Murofushi.

Murofushi won gold in Athens 2004 and bronze at London 2012 Games. Earlier in June, he won his 20th successive hammer throw title at the national athletics championship. 

Tokyo 2020 is making efforts to actively involve athletes at all levels of its preparations for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020. He was appointed as a member of the TOKYO 2020 Executive Board last January.

Appointing the 39-year old will also help the hosts of the 2020 Olympic Games to deflect criticism that its leadership has not yet represented younger people sufficiently.

The appointment will be particularly welcome to Murofushi, given that he missed out on the opportunity to join the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 2012. Despite ruling against Murofushi's appeal against claims of excessive lobbying, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said Murofushi's "reputation and sportsmanship were intact."

“I am delighted and flattered to have been chosen as the TOKYO 2020 Sports Director,” he said. “I want to contribute to organising an athlete-focused Games that will deliver a long-term legacy and benefit for the sporting community in Japan and beyond.”

Austria, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland’s NOCs have submitted a paper to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) entitled “Olympic Agenda 2020: The Bid Experience", which proposes a revolutionary change to the process of selecting host cities of the Olympic Games. 

The paper briefly explains why all four nations have retracted bids to host Olympic Games in recent years, and sets out what could be done to make the prospect of bidding again more appealing.

The most bold suggestion is that the IOC Evaluation Commission’s findings should count directly towards the election of the host city. Currently, the host city is elected entirely by secret ballot by IOC members, after they have read the Evaluation Commission’s report, but this report does not directly count - only the votes do.

“The IOC could split the election into two equally weighted parts, one representing the technical evaluation with a ranking of all bid cities, and one representing the vote of the IOC members,” the NOCs’ paper states.

The IOC is currently undergoing a deep and wide review into all areas of its activities, with a major focus on bidding procedure. The findings of the “Agenda 2020” review will not be made public until November 2014 but the early appeal from these influential NOCs is a highly significant move.

All four committees have backed out of Olympic bids in recent years. The Austrian Olympic Committee was considering a bid of Vienna for the 2028 Olympic Games while the German, the Swedish and the Swiss Olympic Committees were looking into the possibility of bidding for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

“The striking element welding all four committees together is the fact that all above mentioned bids were not lost in the official bid process, but due to a lack in national or at least regional public or political support,” the paper states.

The NOCs of these established European nations spell out the concerns they have about bidding for the Olympic Games.

“Public and politics seemingly fear the high costs of bidding for and hosting the Games, especially in the aftermath of the increase of costs that was witnessed in Sochi as well as concerns relating to human rights and sustainability,” the NOCs said. “The situation is aggravated by the media picturing mistrust in the IOC.”

Another suggestion from NOCs is that the IOC’s role in financing the Olympic Games should be communicated more clearly to the public, pointing out that “the budget structure is quite confusing for uninvolved citizens.”

The letter is signed by: Dr. Peter Mennel, Secretary General, Austrian Olympic Committee; Dr. Michael Vesper, Director General, German Olympic Sports Confederation; Stefan Lindeberg, President, Swedish Olympic Committee; and Jörg Schild , President, Swiss Olympic Association. 

The concerns of the paper are being addressed by the IOC’s Agenda 2020 Working Group on Bidding Procedure, of which Hasan Arat is a member. To find out more, register for HOST CITY: BID TO WIN conference and hear experts including Arat debating this hot topic on 28th October.

The organising committee has informed the IOC of possible revisions to the locations of some of the Games venues and organisers are considering moving certain venues into locations in the Greater Tokyo area, some as far as an hour’s drive from the city centre.

The original Tokyo bid promised a compact Games with the majority of the venues located within a five mile radius of the Olympic village, far more condensed than many recent Games. Only the shooting, modern pentathlon and football events were originally planned to be held outside of the five mile Olympic village zone.

The new plans could see some venues being moved out as far away as the city of Saitama which could result in some considerable transportation headaches. However, organisers have insisted that the revised plans would be made possible with improved transport infrastructure whilst still cutting costs. The IOC has previously praised Tokyo's venue layout and have been impressed by the city's progress.

The cost of the Games has been a cause of contention amongst Tokyo’s citizens with protests being held against the new 80,000 seated stadium which will replace the current National Stadium.

Tokyo governor Yoichi Masuzoe has had to defend the new plans and told a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan that he has a responsibility to Tokyo taxpayers.

“How can I persuade the taxpayers to pay this kind of money? We are working with the IOC and the various sports federations to make the Games sustainable. Legacy is very important. If you abolish everything after the Games who can accept that?” said Masuzoe.