Following the International Olympic Committee’s announcement over the weekend that it is scenario planning for postponing the Games, the IOC’s former head of marketing said that the mostly likely outcome is to move by a year to summer 2021, while IOC member Sir Craig Reedie warns that this could take up to four weeks to confirm.

The comments were made on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“Everyone clearly wants clarity as soon as possible. The IOC would like to announce a definitive new date as soon as they can. But they can’t do that until they’ve worked through some of the mind-boggling complexity with the Japanese,” said Michael Payne, who as IOC head of marketing launched the TOP sponsor programme that transformed the fortunes of the Games.

“I think until recently the Japanese were desperately hoping the Games would still be taking place this July. Only now are the Japanese seriously looking at plan B. The main issue is looking at all the logistics within Japan, of the venues, as to how can they effectively mothball them for whatever period of time necessary.

“And the international sporting calendar – I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that a short delay wouldn’t solve the problem. You have to look at a one-year delay, and I think that will come sooner rather than later.”

“The IOC President Thomas Bach and the Japanese Prime Minister have said cancellation is off the table. Japan has invested billions of dollars and they obviously still want to proceed, albeit with a different date.

“For the IOC they want to do everything possible to avoid disenfranchising the 10,000 athletes. Postponement is clearly where this is now going, and most likely for one year.”

Sir Craig Reedie has served as vice president of the IOC and Executive Board member. Asked what advice he would give to Japanese President Abe and IOC president Bach now, he said: “I’d be saying to them, is it possible that the contractual situation that you will have with a whole range of suppliers – it’s venues, particularly it's accommodation, it’s with various people – can these contracts be amended to a postpone the Games to a later date? I suspect that’s why a suggested period of four weeks is required, to see if that is possible.”

“Thereafter the issue seems to be clearly twofold. Firstly, will Japan be sufficiently clear of the virus? And secondly will the rest of the world have moved on to such a stage that athletes will no longer be afraid of travelling and taking part?

“The whole region has been massively infected by the spread of the virus. Everybody is saying athletes cannot prepare properly, there is danger in asking them to do so.

“So the balance of probability is that Japan have to be asked if they can change their logistical arrangements, particularly I think in the area of accommodation.

“And if that can be done then the IOC, I think, will look at postponing the Games.”

National Olympic Committees are beginning to prepare their teams for a 2021 event, with Canada having already pulled out of 2020.

There is still work to do in the most challenging of times, but Expo 2020 Dubai is on schedule to open in October thanks to measures taken by the host nation.

“Putting on a World Expo, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic requires a global effort from the 192 countries taking part in Expo 2020 Dubai,” BIE Secretary General Dimitri Kerkentzes was reported as saying in Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram on 19 March.

“We continue working with the organisers and are confident in the steps that the UAE has taken to manage the spread of the virus and protect all those involved in the Expo. Expo 2020 Dubai’s pragmatic approach offers both reassurance and assistance to those who need it, and will, I believe, contribute to the successful delivery of this mega event.”

A steering committee of representatives of countries taking part in Expo 2020 Dubai met virtually on 19 March to discuss the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on preparations.

“As hosts of the next World Expo, due to open in seven months’ time, we always knew that 2020 was going to be demanding. What we could not predict is that we would be doing so in the midst of the biggest global health crisis in generations,” UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai Reem Al Hashimy is reported as saying in al-Ahram.

“These are difficult, uncertain times, which makes it even more heartening to see communities around the world facing this challenge together and to witness the incredible resilience of the human spirit against a menace that does not recognise international borders or timelines.

“Our immediate priority is the health and well-being of everyone involved in Expo 2020 Dubai, and this will not be compromised. Our monitoring of ongoing developments means we will take all sensible precautions to manage and mitigate risk to all those involved.”

The UAE has taken a range of measures to control the spread of COVID-19. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces told government news agency Wam: “In the UAE, we have adopted rational and early advanced precautionary measures before other countries around us to stand up to the challenge… Therefore, the infection tally in the UAE is less thanks to our early response to contain the virus at its onset”

Construction by the organising committee is complete, with International Participant Pavilions being completed.

The value of World Expos cannot be understated. “For almost 170 years they have brought countries and people together to celebrate the best of humanity, and the fruits of our innovation and collaboration, around a theme addressing global challenges,” said Kerkentzes.

The organisers of Glastonbury 2020 have announced the cancellation of the 2020 edition of the festival.

“This will be an enforced fallow year for the Festival,” Michael and Emily Eavis said in a statement published on their website and shared on social media.

“Clearly this was not a course of action we hoped to take for our 50th anniversary event, but following the new government measures announced this week – and in times of such unprecedented uncertainty – this is now our only viable option.

“We very much hope that the situation in the UK will have improved enormously by the end of June. But even if it has, we are no longer able to spend the next three months with thousands of crew here on the farm, helping us with the enormous job of building the infrastructure and attractions needed to welcome more than 200,000 people to a temporary city in these fields.”

Ticket holders will have the opportunity to roll their £50 deposit over to next year, and be guaranteed the opportunity to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2021.

The organisers added: “The cancellation of this year’s Festival will no doubt come as a terrible blow to our incredible crew and volunteers who work so hard to make this event happen. There will also inevitably be severe financial implications as a result of this cancellation – not just for us, but also the Festival’s charity partners, suppliers, traders, local landowners and our community.

“We were so looking forward to welcoming you all for our 50th anniversary with a line-up full of fantastic artists and performers that we were incredibly proud to have booked. Again, we’re so sorry that this decision has been made. It was not through choice. But we look forward to welcoming you back to these fields next year and until then, we send our love and support to all of you.”

[Source: SportAccord] On 28 February, the Swiss Federal Government imposed a ban on large-scale events involving more than 1000 people. The ban came into immediate effect and was set to apply until at least 15 March 2020. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) moved to declare the COVID-19 outbreak as an official Pandemic. On 14 March at 14:30 CET in a press conference, the Canton of Vaud under emergency measures imposed a ban on events involving more than 50 people until 30 April 2020. SportAccord, which brings together nearly 2,000 delegates, has taken the necessary step of cancelling SportAccord 2020 to give International Sport Federations, stakeholders, partners and attendees as much time as possible to make arrangements in light of the cancellation.

“Our priority is the health and welfare of our International Federations and delegates attending our event, so this decision has been taken with the utmost consideration for those who were planning to attend SportAccord 2020 in Lausanne.” SportAccord President Raffaele Chiulli said.

“This is obviously an extremely unfortunate situation and we are saddened that our community will not be able to attend our annual gathering, but we wanted to announce this decision at the earliest opportunity to enable plans to be adapted accordingly for all concerned.”

SportAccord Managing Director Nis Hatt said: “Following the COVID-19 outbreak, SportAccord has made every effort to find a viable solution for the staging of the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2020.“

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused, but in taking the decision to cancel the event at this stage, we have endeavoured to minimise the potential disruption to our delegates’ plans. SportAccord is very grateful for the support of the City of Lausanne, Canton of Vaud, International Olympic Committee, partners, exhibitors, and delegates in recent weeks. We are now focusing on the delivery of what promises to be a superb SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2021 in Ekaterinburg and we look forward to welcoming our friends from around the world to Russia from 23-28 May 2021.”

Partners, exhibitors and delegates who had registered to attend SportAccord 2020 in Lausanne will be contacted shortly with further information.

Follow developments and updates via Twitter @sportaccord or keep up to date via LinkedIn and Facebook. For enquiries, email info@sportaccord.sport.

[Source: UFI] Paris based UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and Atlanta based SISO, The Society of Independent Show Organizers, today launch a new campaign, called “This Show Is Open”

– “This Show is open” / “This Expo is open” campaign made available to exhibition organisers around the world

– Campaign highlights the critical role exhibitions and events play in times of crisis

– Both associations pledge to make campaign available to meeting industry associations serving other types of events

It supports exhibition and event organisers around the world as they put the industry’s full experience to the task of keeping events going wherever possible, in line with the guidance of health authorities and the interests of their customers.

The campaign launches as the global outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus is challenging societies around the world. As health systems and governments deal with the outbreak, exhibitions and events around the world are being postponed or cancelled where deemed necessary.

At the same time, exhibitions and events are one of the core elements to both keep industries and economies going – they are both among the most responsive and resilient economical tools.

“Exhibitions and events are essential to millions of businesses around the world. They exist to provide platforms for people and industries to meet, to trade, and to collaborate. Small and medium businesses in all industries in particular depend on exhibitions. And, like all types of events, they support the economy worldwide“, says Mary Larkin, UFI President.

“Exhibitions and events are especially important in times of disruption. We stand to fulfil our obligation to maintain opportunities for people to meet wherever possible. As part of the exhibitions industry, we are committed to keep our exhibitions and events going around the world wherever we can do so“, says Greg Topalian, SISO Chair.

The “This Show is Open” campaign consists of material that UFI and SISO are making available to their respective memberships – covering all the global leading companies in exhibition management as well as regional and national heavyweights. They can add the visuals and text material to their ongoing communications around upcoming exhibitions – highlighting the fact that, while numerous exhibitions around the world are being postponed or cancelled due to COVID19, many shows are taking place successfully around the world.

“We have one simple message here”, say Kai Hattendorf, UFI CEO and David Audrain, SISO ED. “As an industry, we strive to make it possible for every company to come to the show floor, to seek to meet with industry peers, to drive the exchange about how and to what degree their respective industries are impacted by COVID-19, and to secure the successful future for their business.“

Industry leaders are welcoming the campaign:

“I have been a strong supporter of this campaign ever since I heard of it. At Tarsus Group, we will use the material provided to help get the word out loud and clear that our industry is open and resilient”, says Douglas Emslie, CEO of London based global organizer Tarsus Group.

Both UFI and SISO are as well inviting other associations serving the wider meetings industry to join the campaign, to help to grow awareness.

“As the current president of the Joint Meetings Industry Council, I will invite all the member associations of this global framework to join this campaign. We will also be happy to offer other networks like the ‘Events Industry Council’ to share the campaign – this issue is one that calls for the whole meetings industry to come together and collaborate”, says Kai Hattendorf.

The campaign materials are available for download here: www.supportingevents.org

[Source: IOC] The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board heard a report on all the measures taken so far to address the coronavirus situation, which was followed by a comprehensive discussion.

A joint task force had already been created in mid-February, involving the IOC, Tokyo 2020, the host city of Tokyo, the government of Japan and the World Health Organization (WHO). The IOC Executive Board appreciates and supports the measures being taken, which constitute an important part of Tokyo’s plans to host safe and secure Games.

The IOC will continue to follow the advice of WHO, as the leading United Nations agency on this topic. The IOC Executive Board expressed its thanks to WHO for its continued valuable advice and cooperation.

It also praised the great unity and solidarity of the athletes, National Olympic Committees, International Federations and governments. It welcomed their close collaboration and flexibility with regard to the preparations for the Games, and particularly the qualification events. All stakeholders continue to work closely together to address the challenges of the coronavirus.

The IOC Executive Board encourages all athletes to continue to prepare for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The IOC will keep supporting the athletes by providing the latest information and developments, which are accessible for athletes worldwide on the Athlete365 website.

Host City: Bhubaneswar is hosting FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in November – how much work is there still to do to prepare for this?

Tusharkanti Behera: We are very committed in our efforts to host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the best way possible, like when hosting previous international tournaments. We are looking to finish building and upgrading all the infrastructure by the first quarter of this year itself, as per the FIFA guidelines for the World Cup.

We are confident that the event will make a positive impact and help create a football ecosystem for the youth of the state and inspire more women to take up the sport.

Host City: Further down the line, Odisha is hosting the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup in 2023. Why do you think Odisha was selected to host this major event? 

Tusharkanti Behera: Odisha has been doing rather well for quite some time in sports, especially hockey, and we will be hosting the Hockey World Cup for the second consecutive time. The fact that the Hockey World Cup 2018 was heralded by the FIH President as the best Hockey World Cup in history says a lot about the efforts made by the state and everyone involved in the delivery of the tournament. Moreover, we have built the state-of-the-art Kalinga hockey stadium, which is one of the best in the world.

The state now has a reputation for delivering successfully big tournaments like Asian Athletics Championship, the Men’s Hockey World League Finals 2017, Indian Super League 2017-2018, Hero Super Cup 2018/2019, National Open Athletics Championships 2018, Asia Rugby Girls U-18 Rugby 7s Championships 2018, Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018, Indian Super league , AIFF 4-nations Women’s Hero Gold Cup 2019, and the recent FIH Series Finals and Pro League. Thanks to its efforts in hosting the majority of international tournaments, the Indian state of Odisha is now being termed the sports capital of India.

Host City: What part do these events play in Odisha’s hosting strategy? Will this help Odisha bid for even bigger events in the future, and what kind of events are you looking to host?

Tusharkanti Behera: These events are testimony to the efficient delivery of international tournaments by the Odisha government and now the world knows of our capabilities.

We are more than willing to organise international events as and when we are offered something. Indian Olympics Association (IOA) President Mr. Narinder Batra has already said that whenever India gets to host an Olympic, Asian or Commonwealth Games, Odisha will definitely be a part of it.

Host City: What other positive impacts will these events bring to the state of Odisha?

Tusharkanti Behera: Hosting big events in the state, apart from developing a sporting ecosystem, also helps create brand equity for the state and boost tourism. The Hockey World Cup 2018 led to an estimated 60 per cent higher tourist footfall in Odisha during November and December 2018.

By leveraging on Bhubaneshwar's appeal as a sports destination, we hope to bolster tourist footfall and earnings by focusing on sports tourism.

The Olympic Games is a time of great excitement and opportunity – particularly if you are the Worldwide IT Partner of the Games.

“We are very excited as we are less than 200 days away from Tokyo 2020,” Sophie Proust, Group EVP and Group CTO, Atos told Host City at Global Sports Week Paris. “There is a lot to do around data in the world of sports.”

Driverless Games

One major benefit of the Olympic Games is the way that TOP Partners work together to deliver the event, each focusing in their own area of expertise.

Toyota is the relevant TOP Partner regarding vehicles, mobility support robots and mobility services. In Tokyo this summer, 100 driverless cars will move passengers around venues in the city’s waterfront area.

“Major cities are getting more and more crowded, so we need to think about that. Autonomous vehicles are not yet a mature technology, so it has to be used in a very constrained way.

“For future Games, we could well imagine TOP Partners working together with the IOC and Organising Committees to develop in specific domains such as driverless cars.”

I ask if the Olympic Games present possibilities as a test bed for autonomous vehicles because the organisers already close lanes for VIPs. “You could think of things like that. The magic of the Olympic Games and other major events is that we can collaborate between big enterprises in different sectors and build concrete cases as the event is a real accelerator for innovation and technology.”

Major events as smart cities

Transport is just one area of event management were technology can bring transformative applications. “Smart cities are about managing electricity, water, transport and energy,” Proust explains. “The ecosystem is so vast in the city.”

The scale of some major events is such that they can be considered as smart cities, with all the diverse attributes of the event generating huge amounts of data.

“We are involved in every aspect of major events from program management and integration of systems to applications for spectators, partners and sponsors. All of these areas generate data, which needs to be managed and structured efficiently.

"And with events involving multiple sports in multiple cities it is getting quite complex!”

The introduction of five new sports for Tokyo 2020 presents interesting opportunities, she says. “Tokyo 2020 will be the biggest Olympic Games to date, generating tremendous amounts of data. Our role is to collect, process and secure all of this data which is extremely valuable.”

Atos is also working on making applications more efficient. “All the IT applications have been migrated onto the cloud, and have now developed cloud native applications to facilitate deployment. We must ensure that our applications are available in all languages, so the fan experience is enhanced. So there are a lot of topics to handle, it’s very exciting.”

 “Thinking about the future of major events, one of our key strengths is to take the data and do something with it. We have more and more computations and analysis methods to measure success. This content is sent over to broadcast – but increasingly it’s also personalised to individual consumers.”

A stadium can also be considered to be a smart city. “There are different technology means for measurement and control to enhance the experience at an event. For instance, we are the lead integrator of the Advanced Access Control System for Tokyo 2020, reducing waiting time for athletes, coaching staff, volunteers and journalists at entry points of official venues - while being more secure.  

“In terms of fluidifying flows, you need to know what method of transport people are using to arrive – car, bus, metro or train – so you can have a predictive sense of how the flows are going to come, and then analyse it and adapt accordingly.

“Getting people to locations safely is quite complex.”

Sports: a digital driver or dawdler?

It was suggested at Global Sports Week that the sports industry been slow to respond to digital disruption as compared to other sectors. But Proust – who as CTO at Atos works across the entire range of industry sectors – turns this idea on its head.

“For me, sports is a real driver for innovation and for digital transformation because of the massive amounts of data we collect, and because sport is such a major part of everyone’s life. So sport is really a good driver, because of the impact on society.”

Angels Martin, General Manager Olympics at Atos told Host City why some sports organisations might be slow to adopt new technology.

“Usually sport organisations are very risk-averse. The bigger the event, the more risk-averse the organisation is, because they don’t want to create a mess in the middle of a major sports event in front of such a big audience.

“We need to manage the risk of new technologies, because the Olympic Games is highly visible.

“What helps us the most is that we know the business very well, supporting the Olympic Movement for 30 years; we are able to analyse what would be the impact of a new technology; and also to manage and assess the risks. We understand the impact of any change, of any new technology we want to implement.”

It stands to reason that events with lower visibility than the Olympic Games present a greater opportunity to showcase new technologies. “We try to have a more mature proof of concept that we can propose to the organising committees of smaller events. And then if they are happy to implement this, then we do it. It is not a testing field but to see what the response is and the reaction – and also to check the technology, if this is something to be used later on in the Olympic Games.”

Leave organising to the experts

I ask Martin what she sees as the biggest challenge facing the major events sector.

“There are so many challenges,” she says. “Talking generally, governing bodies want to take more control over what is being delivered. This is an area where I think that we will see some changes in the future – governing bodies being more willing to take more control over delivery. This is going to help governing bodies to get more synergies and reduce cost.”

Given the scale and scope of organising an Olympic Games, and the rapidly increased role of technology in event delivery, specialist companies like Atos bring invaluable expertise.

“The most important value is our experience”, she says. “We’ve been doing this since Barcelona 1992. We know a lot about how the Olympic Games are organised. In order to be fully prepared, we start collaborating with each Organizing Committee 7 years before the start of the event. Having done multiple Olympics in the past, Atos has a key role in the transfer of knowledge from edition to edition.

“If you have a solution that needs to be reinvented every time for every single organising committee it makes no sense. There are some services that are exactly the same Games after Games – why can’t you replicate them?

“I am sure you can find synergies between different events as well. These would allow the governing body to make savings for the organising committee and host cities, if they don’t have to do everything from the start again and again.”

In PyeongChang, Atos created a number of centralised services that in the past were provided locally. “The same people that provided services for the PyeongChang Games are now providing the same services for Tokyo and for Beijing. We are not only creating savings for the IOC and organising committees but also capitalising on knowledge, which is very important.”

[Source: Commonwealth Games Federation] A Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships is set to take place in India in 2022 after a proposal to stage the event was approved by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Executive Board.

The event will be held in Chandigarh, the capital of the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, and is scheduled to be staged in January 2022.

It adds to a hugely exciting year for Commonwealth Sport, with Birmingham set to stage the 2022 Commonwealth Games from 27 July – 7 August 2022.

The decision confirmed that Chandigarh 2022 and Birmingham 2022 will be two separately organised and funded Commonwealth Sport events.

One week following the Closing Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the CGF shall issue a medal table that includes results from the Chandigarh 2022 Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships, as a further and final legitimate ranking of competing nations and territories from the respective competitions.

The CGF Executive Board approved the proposal at their meeting in London which took place on February 21-23; and highlighted the opportunity for this innovative model to promote and encourage the development and hosting of sport throughout the Commonwealth.

The proposal from Commonwealth Games India (CGI), which was supported by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the Government of India, the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) and World Archery, was also considered and discussed with Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Partners prior to the CGF Executive Board decision.

CGF President Dame Louise Martin said: “I am delighted that we have approved India’s ambitious proposal to host a Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships in Chandigarh during 2022.

“Commonwealth archery and shooting athletes now have an unprecedented opportunity to compete in an elite event that will showcase the very best of Commonwealth Sport and add value to the Commonwealth Sports Movement.

“The CGF would like to thank the CGI, the NRAI, the Government of India and the entire sporting community of India on the significant efforts they have taken to submit an innovative proposal with the ambition of strengthening Commonwealth Sport.

“I would like to give particular thanks to CGI President Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport Kiren Rijiju and NRAI President Raninder Singh for their leadership across this proposal.”

CGI President Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra said: “We are very pleased that our proposal was considered by the Federation and look forward to continuing to engage with all stakeholders to ensure that the Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships is a resounding success for the Commonwealth Sports Movement.

“Our proposal provides more opportunities for Commonwealth athletes to compete on the world stage, and we look forward to welcoming the Commonwealth’s best shooters and archers to Chandigarh in 2022.

“Team India looks forward to competing at Chandigarh 2022 and Birmingham 2022, and discussing further how we promote closer ties with India and its athletes and the wider Commonwealth sport community.”

The CGF Executive Board also saw key updates on the Trinbago 2021 Commonwealth Youth Games and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

There were further updates on the 2026 Commonwealth Games Bid Process, with a Host City set to be announced later this year.

The next CGF Board meeting is scheduled to take place in June 2020 in Birmingham.

[Source: SportAccord] Returning to the Canton of Vaud and the Home of International Sport, SportAccord will take place from 19-24 April 2020 at the Swiss Tech Convention Centre.

Now in its 18th edition, SportAccord President Raffaele Chiulli remarked: “We are delighted that Lausanne will be hosting SportAccord once again, as a major event in the international sporting calendar, Lausanne provides a favourable location for sport and business leaders to meet, given its strong commitment to sport and industry.

When SportAccord was last in the Olympic Capital and Home of International Sport in 2016, visitors and delegates were welcomed with open arms and we are already feeling this again. We truly look forward to delivering another successful SportAccord in this dynamic city and within this short period of time.”

On becoming Host City to the next SportAccord, Mayor of Lausanne, Grégoire Junod commented: “As the Olympic Capital, Lausanne is proud to be hosting the 2020 SportAccord and looks forward to supporting the organisers in making this major event successful. Once again, it is with great pleasure that we open our doors to the international sports family.”

With State Councillor, Department of Economy, Innovation & Sport, Philippe Leuba commenting that: “After the Lausanne2020 Youth Olympic Games and before the World Hockey, Petanque and Road Cycling Championships, the Canton of Vaud is pleased to welcome, still in 2020, the largest sports convention in the world.”

Attending SportAccord enables delegates to network with sporting leaders at the highest levels, access an extensive conference programme, and experience the many opportunities on offer in one location, at the world’s leading global sports business event.

The conference programme will feature five streams – CityAccord, HealthAccord, LawAccord, MediaAccord, and the SportAccord Summit – with numerous influential speakers already lined up to offer unmissable insights into a variety of vital areas in sport.

Partners, exhibitors and delegates who have registered to attend the event in Beijing will be contacted shortly with registration re-opening for SportAccord 2020 in Lausanne as of Monday, 24 February. For general enquiries, please email info@sportaccord.sport.