Major delays to Rio 2016 Olympic Games projects leave no room for further hold-ups, while responsibilities and funding for projects must be clarified to avoid problems in delivering the Games, the IOC said on Friday. 

The Organising Committee president Carlos Nuzman admitted there is “not a minute to lose”.

At the conclusion of the IOC’s Coordination Commission visit, chair Nawal El Moutawakel said “The Rio 2016 Olympic Games have a great potential for being a very exciting event which leaves many legacies. But although progress is being made, each decision that is postponed and each subsequent delay will have a negative impact on delivery – total focus and dedication are therefore required.”

In a strongly-worded public statement, the IOC said “Every second counts… The delivery timelines of some of the venues for test events and the Games have faced delays and now leave no margin for any further slippages.”

Nuzman said “We enter this crucial phase of our journey without a minute to lose, and certain that our partners in government share this vision”.

Rounding up a full day of site visits to the Barra and Deodoro clusters, the Coordination Commission made it clear that decisive action is required to avoid setbacks, saying “A number of important decisions remain to be made.”

A crucial meeting between the federal authorities and key Games stakeholders has been called on 27th March in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, where “it is expected that the responsibilities for each Games related project will be clarified along with the associated funding in order to avoid further significant delays in the delivery of the project.”

The Coordination Commission did, however, acknowledge that the organising committee has made progress in a number of areas since its last visit in September 2013 and IOC President Bach’s visit in February 2014. 

The overall venue masterplan has been finalised, the event’s “lifetime budget” has been validated and federal government efforts have been integrated under President Rousseff’s Chief of Staff, Aloizio Mercadante.

The commission also commended city authorities for rapid progress since taking over responsibility for the second Olympic Park in Deodoro, where construction work has yet to begin.

During its three day tour, the commission received updates from the organisers and their partners in areas such as athletes and National Olympic Committees (NOC) services, sport and international federations’ services, venues and infrastructure, accommodation, media operations, spectators, ticketing, transport, test events, marketing, and the Paralympic Games.

The IOC visit overlapped with a tour of World Cup venues by FIFA officials, who are currently in Brazil. Many 2014 World Cup projects are behind schedule.

The coordination commission’s next visit to Rio de Janeiro takes place in September 2014.

Delays and uncertainty over World Cup stadiums have motivated FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke to make a special visit to Rio de Janeiro  from 24 to 27 March, bringing an early end to a technical tour of host cities that began on Thursday 20 March.

“Any envisaged on-site host city visits will be rescheduled to the next tour planned for the end of April,” said FIFA in a statement. 

Concerned about overlay projects and three unfinished stadiums, Valcke is travelling to Rio de Janeiro for a series of meetings. The visit culminates in a board meeting of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and media briefing at the Maracana Stadium.

“This is the last occasion for the organizers to take stock of the operational preparations before the respective FIFA World Cup installations begin to be implemented in all 12 host cities,” said FIFA.

The LOC is currently taking FIFA’s technical experts on a tour of stadiums in Sao Paulo, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Cuiaba, Manaus and Natal – the six venues that did not feature in last year’s Confederations Cup. The tour was due to conclude in Natal on 26th March after a visit to Manaus on 24th March, but these two site visits now look set to be postponed to April.

“This inspection tour will be fundamental to consolidate operational plans and for each area to confirm the operations they have planned over the last few years,” said LOC Stadiums Operations Manager Tiago Paes.

The tour involves LOC and FIFA representatives from the areas of competition, press operations, broadcasting, protocol, communications, IT, spectator services, security, medical services, transport, catering, volunteers, hospitality and stadiums operations.

FIFA had originally requested that all venues be finished by December 2013, but three remain under construction. Itaquerao stadium in Sao Paulo and Curitiba's Arena da Baixada are now unlikely to be finished until the middle of May – just a month before the opening match in Sao Paulo. Cuaiba’s Arena Pantanal is due to open in April. 

The pitch at Manaus is also undergoing emergency repairs after the turf was damaged by excessive use of fertilizer. Manaus hosts England and Italy’s first World Cup fixture.

Valcke has reportedly voiced concerns about responsibility for temporary infrastructure. Local newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo said Valcke is concerned that some cities are refusing to pay for temporary items such as security equipment and temporary structures for media, volunteers and sponsors, causing delays to overlay works.

A secret report by the Brazilian government specifies security risks in half of Brazil’s 12 host cities. 

The concerns outlined in the report, which is based on consultation with members of the public and was leaked to O Globo, include the risk of strikes and protest.

Rio de Janeiro suffers from “a difficult relationship between public authorities and society”, the report says. And in Sao Paulo, a “potential problem” identified is a $25m budget cut for the military police.

The government is also concerned that civil servants could strike in Belo Horizonte, which might “fuel protests”.  In the northeast, unrest between farm workers and indigenous groups is mentioned as another area of concern. 

The report also says “opposition parties are attempting to wreck the image” of the Governor of Brasilia, Agnelo Queiroz. Concerns are also raised over the safety of teams and visitors, according to O Globo.

President Dilma Rousseff’s office described the report as preliminary and inconclusive, saying that the information published in O Globo was neither official nor verified. 

Brazil’s sports minister Aldo Rebelo has also played down such concerns. "The possibility of protest during the World Cup is very limited,” he told The Guardian on Monday. 

“People are more interested in celebrating the World Cup. Peaceful protests are protected by the constitution. Violent protests are forbidden by law and they are matters for the police to deal with."

Nonetheless, Brazilian authorities will be keen to pre-empt and avoid any potential for further civil unrest, in the wake of the striking and protesting that took place in several cities during last year’s Confederations Cup.

Security concerns are also highlighted by the announcement earlier this week that Brazil is to establish “no fly zones” of a 7km radius over each stadium on World Cup match days, despite major disruption to travel.

The Qatari government is set to sign up to $50bn in infrastructure contracts over the course of 2014, according to Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani. This represents a massive escalation in construction activity as the 2022 FIFA World Cup draws nearer.

The contracts will include transport and energy projects. A tender for phase one of the Doha Metro has already been issued, according to unnamed sources speaking to Reuters, with a contract expected to be signed by the end of August. 

The $50bn figure, announced by Sheikh Al-Thani at the Qatar Projects 2014 show organised by Meed Events, significantly exceeds previous estimates. Speaking a month before the event, Edmund O’ Sullivan, the chairman of Meed Events said contract awards for big infrastructure projects in Qatar in 2014 were “likely to hit $24bn”.

The recent upturn in spending follows a slow start to the world’s biggest infrastructure project. 

According to Reuters, state spending rose by just 2.2 per cent in the year up to March 2013, while a government report projects state spending to rise by 11.6 per cent in 2014.

"Even with Qatar's means and ambitions, the resources of time, space and human capital are not endless, especially when concentrated on a mere 10 per cent of its soil,” Tilman Engel, managing director of Sport Business Consulting International told HOST CITY. 

Engel advised and directed the Qatar professional football league from 2007 to 2009, during their process of reorganisation and professionalisation in line with AFC and FIFA directives. “Given the enormity of both the World Cup and the National Vision 2030, it is no day too soon for Qatar to launch the projects key to make both visions work."

Infrastructure projects in Qatar accelerated over the course of 2013, overtaking the UAE midway through the year with $12.2bn of contracts awarded, said O’Sullivan. “The bulk… came from the multi-billion-dollar tunnelling packages awarded as part of the Doha metro project.”

On winning the host city election for the 2022 World Cup in 2010, Qatar stated that it would spend $140bn on civic and sporting infrastructure. This figure was soon upgraded, with a report by Deloitte in September 2013 stating that Qatar plans to spend $140bn over the next five years on transport alone.

$200bn is due to be spent over the next 10 years on construction. A further $20bn is to be spent on tourism infrastructure to prepare for the influx of football fans, the Deloitte report said. Since then, an investment of $45bn into tourism by 2030 has been announced.

Five cities have submitted their application files for the Winter Olympic Games by the deadline of Friday 14 March. The IOC Executive Board has until 9 July to select the successful candidate cities.

While safety concerns have exerted a major influence on recent hosting decisions, individuality will the critical factor for future host cities, IOC Executive Board member Prof. Dr. Ugur Erdener told HOST CITY.

The pool of applicants – Krakow, Oslo and Almaty, Lviv and Beijing – presents a strong emphasis on growth markets, with only one Western European city and none from America. This is particularly notable given that the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be preceded by two editions in new territories.

“There was a very successful organisation in Sochi and everybody was very happy being there,” Erdener told HOST CITY. “It was one of the very best Olympic Games organised. The next Winter Games will be held in PyeongChang, and now we have potential candidates from Europe and Asia again.

“We will have to see their applicant files, their projects and some of their explanations and then we can have some ideas. At the moment we don’t have any idea of the projects details, budget et cetera.”

Under the new leadership of Dr Thomas Bach and his revitalised top table, the IOC is keen to uphold the value of its flagship events. “The Olympic Games is the top priority for the IOC and the Olympic Movement,” Erdener said.

However, this does not necessarily give an established, known host like Oslo an advantage. The IOC will always be interested in something new to promote.

“It should be a unique activity; it is very important that all Winter, Summer and Youth Olympic Games should be unique – this is very important for the IOC,” said Erdener. 

“We have to be more attractive, especially for TV – because TV is the most important factor for all kinds of sports facilities, especially for the Olympic Games.”

As President of the Turkish Olympic Committee, Erdener led Istanbul’s bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. “I congratulated my friends in the Tokyo team; it was a very fair competition and there was only one place for the winner for 2020.

“After having seen some delays in Rio 2016 project, probably some of our colleagues thought that a safe city would be better. As we all know, still there are some discussions about Rio project.”

IOC members will vote for the host city of the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games during the IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur on 31 July 2015.

Prof. Dr. Erdener is also president of the World Archery Federation and president of the Organising Committee for SportAccord Convention, which takes place in Belek, Turkey from 6-10 April.

For the full exclusive interview with Prof. Dr. Erdener, register for HOST CITY and make sure you get the next issue.

Team SA is hoping to make a historic impact at Glasgow 2014. 

“As a nation, we are proud that on the five occasions that South Africa has competed to the Commonwealth Games since democracy, the medal tally has been very impressive,” said Tubby Reddy CEO of South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC).

“The 2014 Commonwealth Games are no exception; we hope to win more medals as our athletes compete with the spirit of Tata Madiba in mind, that of a winning nation and empowering themselves through sport.”

2014 is a big year for Glasgow and also for South Africa, which is celebrating 20 years since the end of apartheid and its return to the Commonwealth Games in 1994.

South Africa competed at 11 of the 19 Commonwealth Games, from the original Games in 1930 to 1958. South Africa then withdrew from the British Commonwealth because of apartheid, but was later re-admitted and participated in the Games in 1994 – the year of Nelson Mandela’s election.

“We would like firstly to take part in the Commonwealth Games,” Mandela said shortly after his inauguration, and Team SA did indeed attend the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games and each edition thereafter.

“All credit goes to the late Madiba’s uniting spirit who believed sports can unite the world and redefine a country’s international image,” said SASCOC in a statement. “Sport’s power to change lives and move nations is often overstated and whilst imprisoned, Madiba supported international sports.”

Freedom of Glasgow

Nelson Mandela had a strong connection with Glasgow. In 1981, during his long period of imprisonment, Glasgow Council awarded Mandela the Freedom of the City. Some years after his release Mandela travelled to Glasgow to thank the city, saying "While we were physically denied our freedom in the country of our birth, a city 6,000 miles away, and as renowned as Glasgow, refused to accept the legitimacy of the apartheid system, and declared us to be free."

Speaking to HOST CITY on Friday, Glasgow's Lord Provost Sadie Docherty said: "Glasgow is extremely proud to be part of the Nelson Mandela story. We were proud to be the first city in the world to honour him with a Freedom of the City award Nelson Mandela was a true political and moral icon. His lifelong quest to bring freedom, justice and equality to the people of South Africa cost him his own freedom for many years. The participation of the South African team in the Commonwealth Games is part of his legacy and I have no doubt the South African team will want to dedicate their performance to his memory."

The Commonwealth Games South Africa Chef De Mission, Patience Shikwambana attended the Chef De Mission Seminar in Glasgow from 28 January – 01 February. “The Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) is on track in their preparations for the Games. We visited some of the training facilities and competition venue facilities and they are of world class standard and it’s pleasing to note that our athletes should be happy to participate in such top of the range facilities.”

At the conclusion of SPORTELAsia on Wednesday, the organisers announced a 12 per cent increase in the number of registered participants as compared to 2013. A total of 603 participants, representing 299 companies of 42 countries, participated in the 2014 Asian Convention.

Ms. Amparo Di Fede, General Manager of SPORTEL said “All participants are extremely satisfied of the high quality and number of exhibitors, especially Asian. Among the new ones were SMIT, Kosmogo, LETV, PPTV, Super Sport Media and Slam Ball.

“The loyalty of the global sports media community has grown strongly over the years and shows that SPORTEL continues to be their ‘must attend’ event".

The conference and panel programme was organised in collaboration with Sports Video Group and TV Sports Markets. A symposium was hosted in partnership with local agency Oceans Marketing entitled "Insight into the Chinese Sports Media Industry".

The next SPORTEL spring convention will return to Miami, where it was hosted in 2011. "Our community has anticipated and clearly chosen America for their next spring convention. SPORTELAmerica will once again welcome the international sports media community from 17 to 19 March 2015, at the JW Marriott in Miami, Florida."

The next SPORTEL event will be the 25th anniversary of SPORTELMonaco.  “The constant success of SPORTELMonaco conventions looks back on 25 years of dedication to our industry and to you, the SPORTEL community that has shared the same dedication and loyalty to us. We very much look forward to welcoming you once again in Monaco from Tuesday 7 to Friday 10 october 2014.”

Registration for SPORTELMonaco opens on 2 April 2014.

Kirsty Coventry used her address to the IWG Global Summit on Women in Sport in Birmingham to champion gender equality and outline how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is advancing this under her presidency.

Coventry, who became the first woman and first African to lead the IOC in 2025, linked her remarks to the organisation’s Fit for the Future agenda, adopted by the IOC Session in June. The reforms are intended to guide the Olympic Movement’s long-term strategy and include gender equality among their priorities.

“A breakthrough matters – the first woman to lead,” she said. “But the real test is what happens after that. Do we simply admire the person who broke through, or do we make sure she opens the door wide enough for others to walk through behind her?”

Leadership and representation

Coventry reflected on the women who shaped her own career, including her coach, Kim, who supported her development at a time when female coaches were far less common in elite sport.

“She was leading her team, raising a family, showing up every single day, and for me that was normal – and more importantly it was powerful.”

When Coventry was campaigning for the IOC presidency, she was pregnant with her second daughter. “She was born just months before the election, so I travelled with a young baby and it never occurred to me for one moment that I needed to hide that part of my life.”

Coventry argued that women should not feel compelled to imitate male leadership styles in order to succeed.

“For too long we have been told that to be taken seriously women must lead like men. I don’t believe that,” she said. “We need women to lead with confidence in who they are.”

The IOC’s gender-equality agenda

The IOC has already reached gender parity on the field of play at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Coventry said the organisation is now working towards the first gender-equal Olympic Winter Games at the French Alps in 2030.

She said the next phase must focus on increasing the number of women in coaching, officiating and senior decision-making roles across sport. The IOC is leading by example here, with women making up 43 per cent of IOC Members.

“When organisations place women in positions of real responsibility, they send a very strong message to the next generation that your voice is needed and heard.”

Coventry also called on sports organisations to set goals and measure progress on gender equality, and to make sport safer and more inclusive for women and girls.

“Sport can only have impact when opportunity is real, when a girl feels safe at training, when she has access to a coach who believes in her, when she can see people like herself in positions of leadership, when her family and community understand that sport is not a distraction from her future… that is why this work is important.”

Protecting the female category

She also addressed the issue of eligibility criteria.

“Early in my presidency we took an important decision to strengthen the protection of the female category in elite sport. It is about making sure that biological female athletes can compete at the Olympic Games in conditions that are fair and safe.

“More broadly, Fit for the Future is about keeping the Olympic Movement strong, relevant and impactful in a changing world.”

A shared responsibility

Coventry said the IOC could not achieve these changes alone and emphasised the need to work with governments, civil society, the private sector and men.

“Gender equality is not a women’s issue,” she said. “Men must be allies… Women must be supported not just when they break through, but throughout their entire journey.”

Coventry said the success of her presidency should be measured by whether it creates opportunities for more women to follow.

“That is how we move beyond the breakthrough – not by celebrating the first woman forever, but by making sure she is never the last.”

Representatives from across the global events industry gathered at a roundtable organised by the International Association of Event Hosts (IAEH) to discuss the future of major sporting events. Recurring themes included the need to engage audiences, measure impact and communicate value amid rising hosting costs and growing scrutiny of publicly funded events.

“We are entertainment”

Hugh Brasher, co-founder of Athletics Ventures – a joint venture between UK Athletics, Great Run and London Marathon Events – argued that sports rights holders must increasingly see themselves as part of the entertainment industry.

“We are entertainment,” he said. “Sports rights holders need to understand they are entertainment.”

Brasher said mass-participation events such as the London Marathon succeed because they create platforms for participants to generate their own experiences and narratives.

“You have to think about how you are going to be more entertaining,” he said. “We need to look at what works on different platforms such as TikTok.”

He also highlighted Athletics Ventures’ “playground to podium” approach to widening participation across demographics and making the commercial offering more suitable to bigger brands.

“The London Marathon used to be predominantly white male participants,” he said. “Now it is a sea of everyday people. If you see people who look like you doing it, you think you can do it.”

Brasher added that marathon running occupies a unique position among sports because elite athletes compete directly alongside amateur participants.

“There is no other sport where world record breakers compete alongside the man on the street.”

He said that the most important thing to do in expanding your offering is to find the right partners to grow with: companies with the same values and whose strengths compliment your own.

Economic returns

As well as the London Marathon, Athletics Ventures’ portfolio includes the London Athletics Meet, the UK Indoor and Outdoor Athletics Championships and the 2026 European Athletics Championships. The organisation is also working on the UK bid for the 2029 World Athletics Championships, which has received support from the Prime Minister.

According to Brasher, hosting the event would deliver a 9:1 return on investment. “It’s a no-brainer to back the bid” he said.

Iain Edmondson of Legacy Delivery Ltd supported this claim, pointing to a £40-50m investment equating to up to £450m socioeconomic return for which estimates have already been made, based on benchmarks from previous events.

Governments are increasingly willing to support major sporting events where organisers can clearly demonstrate social and economic returns, Edmondson said.

He highlighted to the UK’s growing pipeline of events, including the 2026 Commonwealth Games, the 2027 Grand Depart of both the Tour de France and Tour de France Femme and UEFA Euro 2028.

“A lot of money is going into these,” Edmondson said. “Government is being the advocate, saying it’s worth the investment.”

The UK Government is exploring the possibility of a future northern England Olympic bid, alongside new policy developments around stadium regeneration, a proposed Sporting Events Bill aimed at simplifying the process of bidding for and delivering major events, and the appointment of Lord McConnell as adviser on soft power and major events.

Rising costs and public funding pressures

IAEH Finance Director Joel Lavery, of the West Midlands Growth Company, warned that international federations often underestimate the financial realities facing host cities.

“Federations often come into cities with unrealistic expectations of what public funding can afford,” he said.

Perttu Pesa, IAEH Chair and Major Events Director at Tampere, also cited escalating costs as a major concern for future hosts.

“Existential threat” to major events

Dr Mike Duignan of the Centre for Events and Festivals argued that the global events industry is struggling to communicate its wider social and economic value.

“Worldwide, we face an existential threat to major events. Many people think they are not a good thing,” he said.

“I believe they are a good thing; we’ve just been poor at articulating it.”

He criticised the lack of formal professional structures within the sector, describing the industry as “a bit of a wild west”.

“The business events industry is the 16th biggest in the world, but is poor at advocacy,” he said.

Duignan warned that organisers often rely on fragmented or insufficient data when assessing impact.

“Datasets from individual events are nearly always too small. We assume a lot in events.”

He added that advances in big data and AI present both opportunities and challenges for demonstrating value and long-term impact.

“Veracity matters,” he said. “We can’t tell truthful enough stories about the impact we have.”

Reputation and rights

Sports lawyer Yasin Patel of Church Court Chambers said reputational risk is an increasingly important factor for sports organisations and venue owners, citing controversies involving Manchester United and footballer Mason Greenwood.

He also noted that media rights continue to represent the single largest revenue source in professional sport.

Brasher concluded by cautioning against over-ambition in creating entirely new event concepts.

“Creating new IP for unique events is incredibly difficult. It’s better to add shoulder events to what you’ve already got.”

[Source: Indian Olympic Association] The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has welcomed the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision to strengthen and modernise the process for selecting future Olympic Games hosts, describing the updated framework as an important step towards greater transparency, predictability and collaboration.

Approved at the 146th IOC Session, the revised methodology introduces clearly defined milestones and a new Strategic Dialogue phase, enabling prospective host projects to engage with the IOC through a structured, collaborative process. The IOA believes these reforms align closely with India's long-term vision of contributing meaningfully to the Olympic Movement through sustainable planning and responsible investment in sport.

Dr. P.T. Usha, President of the Indian Olympic Association, said: "We welcome the IOC's decision to further strengthen the future host selection process. The introduction of a more structured and transparent framework provides greater clarity for all interested parties and reinforces the collaborative spirit that underpins the Olympic Movement. India has consistently approached the Amdavad 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games project as a long-term national endeavour. We look forward to continuing our constructive engagement with the IOC and, when the opportunity arises within this new framework, presenting to IOC Members our vision for hosting Games that would reflect India's aspirations, capabilities and commitment to the Olympic values."

The Amdavad 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games project represents a nationally significant initiative supported by strong institutional commitment. Anchored by the development of world-class sporting and urban infrastructure in and around Amdavad (Ahmedabad), the project seeks to create lasting social, economic and sporting benefits for future generations. The infrastructure being developed will also support India's ambition to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030, further strengthening the country's capacity to stage major international sporting events and expanding its legacy of hosting world-class competitions.

The IOA looks forward to engaging with the IOC under the enhanced future host selection framework and remains committed to demonstrating India's readiness to become a trusted long-term partner of the Olympic Movement. The Association believes the new process provides an appropriate platform to showcase India's vision, technical preparedness and commitment to delivering an Olympic and Paralympic Games that would leave a lasting legacy for athletes, communities and the wider Olympic family.