The race to host the European Capital of Culture 2020 shifted up a gear on Saturday, when Dublin announced its bid and Galway revealed a new website for its bid. Limerick, which was City of Culture in 2014, is also in contention.

There are two European Capitals of Culture every year. The bid process starts when the European Commission calls for applications from the relevant national authorities, such as the ministry of culture.

Ireland and Croatia, which joined the EU in 2013, have been designated the hosts of the 2020 edition and the process is underway to select a host city from each of these countries. 

Christy Burke, Lord Mayor of Dublin on Saturday welcomed 28 young Dubliners to present their hopes for Dublin2020 in a “wishing tree ceremony”. 

“I am thrilled to join these young visionaries on Europe Day and to officially launch Dublin2020, our bid to be European Capital of Culture in 2020,” he said 

“Dubliners are proud Europeans and these young people, who will all be young adults in 2020, are the city’s future.” 

The cities will now prepare candidature files that will be judged on six criteria: contribution to the long-term cultural strategy; European dimension; cultural and artistic content; capacity to deliver; outreach; and management.

The title is awarded on the basis of a specific programme over and above the normal cultural activity of a city.

According to the European Commission, the size of a city is not a factor and surrounding areas may be incorporated into bids. Cities with fewer than 25,000 inhabitants have hosted the European Capital of Culture. 

The European Commission says success factors are: acting as a catalyst for a step-change in the city, or an area of a city; a measurable increase in the self-esteem of citizens and pride in the city; an increased engagement with the cultural offers of the city, especially with audiences less likely to attend or participate; development of new cultural offers, new skills, new opportunities for artists and cultural organisations; and a greater international understanding and profile, often seen in increased tourism and reputation.

Periodically, a third European Capital of Culture is awarded from a candidate or potential candidate to EU membership. The Serbian city of Novi Sad announced in March that it would make an official application for European Capital of Culture 2020 in autumn 2015.  

The host cities of the European Capital of Culture 2020 will be announced next year.

At its council meeting on Saturday, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) awarded the hosting rights to the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships to the German city of Stuttgart.

Stuttgart beat off close competition from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to host the sport’s international flagship event.

The Stuttgart Worlds in 2019 will be a crucial qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

Under the new Olympic qualification system accepted by the FIG Council at the weekend, the top three men's and women's teams from the 2018 World Championships will qualify for the 2020 Games. The top nine teams from the 2019 Worlds – not including teams already qualified in 2018 – will also advance to the Games.

Stuttgart and Rotterdam have strong traditions of hosting gymnastics events, both having hosted World Championships twice within the past 30 years: Stuttgart in 1989 and 2007; Rotterdam in 1987 and 2010. 

Stuttgart will also be hosting the 2015 Rhythmic World Championships, an Olympic qualifier, in September. The 2015 Artistic World Championships will be hosted in Glasgow in the last week of October. 

"Stuttgart is a beautiful town with a sports-loving and sport-experienced audience," said Stuttgart Mayor Fritz Kuhn, who was present in Melbourne to support his city's bid before the council's decision. 

We will be a cosmopolitan host in 2019, and welcome the international gymnastics family with us. But this is a close decision. Rotterdam and Stuttgart are absolutely on par in terms of sporting infrastructure." 

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) confirmed the locations of multiple World Championship events on Tuesday, after an ITU Executive Board meeting held in conjunction with the World Triathlon in Yokohama.

“We had a great amount of interest from cities in hosting an ITU event, and received some truly incredible bids for not only triathlon, but also for multisport races,” said ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado. “Triathlon has a very bright future with so many spectacular sites secured to host races in the next several years.”

The 2018 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final has been granted to the Gold Coast, which has hosted World Championship races in 1991 and 2009.

The host of the 2018 Commonwealth Games hosted the World Triathlon Series for the first time this year and is expected to welcome the Series again in 2016 and 2017, before both elite and age group athletes compete for World Championship titles in 2018. 

“This is a fantastic result for Queensland and triathlon, we are very excited to be able to host the world’s best ITU age group and professional athletes here on the Gold Coast,” said IRONMAN Asia-Pacific CEO Geoff Meyer.

Leeds will now host the World Triathlon Series in 2016, taking the place of World Triathlon London. A cycling superhighway is being built throughout the Yorkshire city, with construction work to take place in Hyde Park in 2016.

“It’s fantastic news that Leeds’ bid has been successful,” said reigning Olympic champion and Leeds resident Alistair Brownlee.

“I am sure the crowds will come out in force to see a major triathlon event in Leeds for the first time, and I’m sure it will be a brilliant event. 

Leeds serves as the training grounds for several of the UK’s top triathletes. 

In addition to the World Triathlon Series announcements, the ITU Executive Board voted on several multisport championship events. 

In 2017, Penticton, Canada will organize the first Multisport World Championships Festival, which will see duathlon, long distance triathlon, aquathlon and cross triathlon championship races organized together during a week-long festival.

This innovative format now allows for athletes to compete in various multisport races, as opposed to electing only one each season. 

“We are extremely honoured to be chosen to host the 2017 Multisport World Championships,” said race director Michael Brown. “Penticton has a deep history in triathlon and we look to build on a strong foundation created by this great community. With the support of the city, the Mayor, his council and all of Penticton’s citizens I know we will create a 10-day festival that will live up to all the athletes expectations.”

The Executive Board awarded the 2018 Multisport Festival to Odense, Denmark.

Lake Crackenback, Australia has been announced as the site of the 2016 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships – the last year that will see each multisport World Championships organized as stand-alone events.

 “This is fantastic news for the sport of triathlon in Australia,” said Anne Gripper, CEO of Triathlon Australia.

“To have the world’s best elite and age group athletes competing on the Gold Coast in 2018, as well as in the magnificent Snowy Mountains at Cross Triathlon World Championships in 2016, provides Australian triathletes of all ages with a great incentive to train and compete over the next three years as they strive to wear the green and gold on home soil.”

The ITU also confirmed that it will be suspending its membership of SportAccord, with the International Weightlifting Federation following suit to take the number of Olympic sport federations leaving SportAccord to ten.  

ITU said it will shortly release the bidding conditions for the 2016 Triathlon World Cup events, the 2017 World Triathlon Series races, the 2019 World Triathlon Grand Final, and the 2019 Multisport Festival. The full 2016 ITU World Triathlon Series will also be announced soon. 

HOST CITY has launched “HOST CITY 2015: The Largest Meeting of Cities and Sports, Business and Cultural Events” – a major conference and exhibition to take place on 9 and 10 November 2015. 

With 100 per cent attendee satisfaction, HOST CITY: Bid to Win in 2014 was acclaimed as the optimal setting to network with and learn from peers in the business of hosting major events. 

The HOST CITY 2015 Bid to Win ConfEx will again create a unique dialogue between cities and rights holders of sporting, cultural and business events, on a bigger scale than ever before. 

The 2015 conference will focus on how cities and rights holders can work together to deliver successful, safe and sustainable sporting, cultural and business events. These range from mega events such as the Olympic Games and World Expos to major business, scientific and cultural events. 

HOST CITY 2015 is set to include VIP speakers from event owners: IOC, CGF, FIFA, sports federations, BIE, MTV, EU Capital of Culture, Rock in Rio, major scientific congresses; city event leaders from Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Japan, Qatar, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, USA and many more.

In an increasingly competitive global market, cities are hosting a wider range of events to attract a greater share of global trade and investment. HOST CITY 2015 provides the platform for them to work together to attract, build and host the greatest events in the world. 

Rights holders will announce plans for their events and share insights on bidding for and hosting their properties. Cities will share their experiences of building a portfolio of sports, business and cultural events that attract investment and benefit society. 

With a mix of panel discussions, keynote addresses and case studies focussed on mega events, transport, security, business and cultural events, HOST CITY 2015 highlights the issues and opportunities facing everyone in the business of city events.

Press coverage of HOST CITY Bid to Win 2014 included: The Telegraph, Daily Mail, O Globo, Bloomberg, Associated Press, ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, Huffington Post, Star Africa, Yahoo, China Sports, Indian Express, Yomiuri Shimbun, Sports Illustrated, Washington Times, Kyiv Post, La Gazzetta Dello Sport, Omnisports, MSN, beIN Sports, Eurosport, Fox Sports, with media partners SportCal, Around the Rings, iSportConnect and widespread social media coverage on #HostCity.

“We were very pleased with the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Bid to Win and very proud to present the HOST CITY 2015 Bid to Win ConfEx,” said event chairman and editorial director Ben Avison.

“The world’s most highly regarded speakers will cover all aspects of bidding for and hosting major events.

“We look forward to welcoming you to HOST CITY 2015: Bid to Win, The Largest Meeting of Cities and Sports, Business and Cultural Events on 27-28 October.”

To download the latest agenda visit www.bidtowin-hostcity.net

Book your place and discuss sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities with Adam Soroka on +44 (0) 203 077 8732 or adam.soroka@bric.com 

Joseph “Sepp” Blatter’s surprise announcement on June 2 that he was resigning as president of FIFA was sensational, not least because it happened just four days after his re-election for a historic fifth term. 

Blatter’s rivals for the presidency – Jerome Champagne, Luis Figo, Michel Van Praag and of course Prince Ali, who was the only challenger left standing at the FIFA Congress – all based their campaigns on a common message: the organisation was tainted with allegations of corruption and needed to clean its image.

Blatter, on the other hand, barely uttered a word to the press during the run up to the election – even when investigators raided the Baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich to arrest a number of officials on corruption charges.

In the election, Blatter emerged victorious but storms continued to gather, including allegations that FIFA administered a $10m bribe from South Africa to CONCACAF president Jack Warner. As media reports emerged that Blatter was himself under investigation by FBI and US prosecutors, he announced to the world – at just a couple of hours’ notice – that he was to step aside. 

What was perhaps most extraordinary about Blatter’s resignation speech was that he used it as an opportunity to position himself as a reformer at heart, shackled by circumstances. His resignation, he said, was necessary to make way for “structural changes” that he had himself been advocating for many years. 

These changes including loosening the grip of the continental confederations through which FIFA’s members are aligned, a reduction in size of the Executive Committee – presumably to give non-ExCo FIFA members greater influence – and capping terms of office. 

Whatever you may think of Blatter’s claims to be a democratiser, a process of reform is now inevitable. While it might have taken external events to drive FIFA to the brink, at last it can contemplate the reform it needs. 

Football remains the world’s most popular sport and the FIFA World Cup its biggest single sport event. And if democratisation may not be Blatter’s true legacy, FIFA has undeniably embraced all regions of the world under his presidency. 

Anything can happen now, depending on the outcome of further investigations, which are by no means focused exclusively on the hosts of the future World Cups. The world waits. 

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.”

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.

Beijing 2022 is anticipating at least US$858m of revenues as it seeks to host the Winter Olympic Games, the bid committee told IOC evaluation commission members on the final day of presentations. 

China’s economic growth is continuing to lead the world and the country is prioritising the development of sports, leisure and tourism, the bid committee said.

China has set a target for its sports industry to grow to 800 billion USD by 2025 through promoting sports businesses, developing sport facilities and opening up the market to consumer products and services. 

By 2022, the bid committee anticipates that the combined sports, culture, tourism, leisure, conferences and exhibitions industries will amount to about 20 per cent of GDP of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou region, which is being developed as a “Sport, Culture and Tourism Belt”.

US$660m of organising committee revenues would be raised through sponsorship. 

Beijing 2022 has already secured eight sponsors, including: Tencent Group, fourth largest Internet company in the world, Snow Beer, the world's bestselling beer brand, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world’s largest professional service network, Beijing Bank, Beijing Automotive Group, Anta Sports, True Colour Stationary and Sandaogu Travel Company. 

The remaining revenue would be raised through the licensing and ticketing programmes.

Beijing 2022 is optimistic about ticketing sales, partly because the Games will coincide with the Chinese New Year festival and school holidays. 

The bid committee includes Olympic marketing experts who worked on Beijing 2008. 

“We guarantee that Beijing 2022 will meet the revenue targets, secure the best returns for the IOC TOP partners, as well as national partners, ensure full stadia with amazing atmosphere, in strict respect to all the IOC’s and IPC’s marketing rules,” said Mr. Chen Feng, former deputy director of marketing of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

In its bid to host the 2022 Games, Beijing is competing against the Kazakh city of Almaty, which the IOC evaluation commission visited in February and where sponsorship and marketing are newer concepts.

“The sponsorship landscape is evolving, and Almaty 2022 would help speed up this evolution,” said Alimzhan Akayev, marketing advisor to Almaty 2022 and marketing director of the Combat and Strength Sports Confederation of Kazakhstan.

“Almaty 2022, and the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan have agreed on a Joint Marketing Programme in order to optimise and protect the revenue-generating ability of the OCOG. All required guarantees were provided”.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has launched an ambitious plan called “Transformation 2022” to optimise its sporting movement over the next seven years.

“Now is the time to be ambitious and bold, as we build on our diverse heritage and forward momentum," said CGF president HRH Prince Imran. 

A network of Commonwealth cities is being set up to identify, support and engage with cities that are aspiring to host the Games or develop their sports. 

The issue of good governance also features in the strategic plan.

The sports programme for the Commonwealth Games has been reviewed for the next three Games, with the number of optional sports proposed to be reduced by 10 and the number of compulsory sports to go up by six. 

Sports that are proposed to be dropped from the programme include tennis and sailing, while cricket is set to makes a return in the T20 format.

“A number of core principles drove the proposals, such as depth and scale of participation in the Commonwealth, legacy (especially with regard to the need for purpose-built venues), equality (including increased opportunities for para-sport athletes) and breadth of competition, maximising opportunities for smaller CGAs to win medals,” a spokesperson for the Commonwealth Games Federation told HOST CITY.

Commonwealth Sports Cities Network

A core feature of the strategic plan is “to deliver inspirational and innovative Commonwealth Games built on Commonwealth Games and Youth Games, built on friendships and a proud heritage supported by a dynamic Commonwealth sports cities network.”

David Grevemberg, CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation told HOST CITY: “By 2017 we want to have developed and started to implement a Commonwealth sporting network – to identify, support and engage with cities that are aspiring to host the Games and sport in the Commonwealth.

“So this notion of using sport as the new ‘shipping lane’ to make communities and nations prosperous, peaceful and happy – in order to do that we need to be able transfer, from a city to city basis, what is working and where challenges lie – whether that’s an emerging market, a regenerative market or a sustained market.

“There’s a group already in place called the Commonwealth local governments forum that we’ll be looking to partner with in that area.”

Transforming the sports programme

Previously there were 10 compulsory sports and 20 optional ones. The CGF is now proposing 16 compulsory and 10 optional sports. 

Under the proposal, 10 of the previously compulsory sports remain compulsory. These are: aquatics (swimming, inc. para swimming); athletics (inc. para athletics); badminton; boxing (men); hockey; lawn bowls (inc. para lawn bowls); netball; rugby sevens (men and women); squash; and weightlifting.

Six sports that were previously optional have been made compulsory. These are: road cycling; artistic gymnastics; judo; table tennis; triathlon; and wrestling.

Women’s boxing and women’s rugby, previously optional, have also been made compulsory.

The biggest changes proposed are to the optional sports, which have been reduced in number significantly. Aquatics (diving), aquatics (open water swimming) aquatics (synchronised swimming), canoeing, rowing, sailing, softball, tennis, tenpin bowling and taekwondo would no longer feature in the Commonwealth Games programme for 2022, 2026, and 2030.

None of these disciplines set to be removed from the sports programme feature as part of the current Durban 2022 bid proposals.

T20 cricket, wheelchair basketball, para triathlon and para table tennis are new options on the sports programme.

Cricket has only featured in the Commonwealth Games once before, when a 50-over format was included at Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

The introduction of T20 Cricket is an indication that the CGF is promoting sports that are more widely practiced within the Commonwealth nations. 

“We are proposing a mechanism of being able to attract top athletes, creating a Commonwealth rating system by sport that helps not only to promote great sport in the Commonwealth but also to assess how widely they are practiced in different nations,” Grevemberg told HOST CITY. 

“We aim to maximise efficiency and effectiveness in our delivery of a world class event with real community relevance that is both affordable and universally appealing.”

“We feel that stabilising a sustainable sports programme for a period of time, by increasing the number of compulsory sports, helps us to get more efficiencies of scale, by giving us greater certainty in terms of proposing an athletes’ quota system. It allows us to create a more certain product in terms of what we are presenting." 

CGF vice president and chair of the CGF sport committee Bruce Robertson said: “The Sports Programme proposals also have important operational benefits, including a higher degree of certainty in athlete numbers and more flexibility in the optional sports programme, which we believe will support future Host Cities and CGAs in their Games planning.”

The CGF is looking to continue to work with sports not on the Games programme through a new recognised designation of affiliation with the Commonwealth Games Federation for International Federations (IFs). 

“It’s our intention to work with other IFs on developing sport in the Commonwealth,” said Grevemberg. “The movement is much broader than just the Games.”

The new proposed sports programme will be voted on at the CGF General Assembly in New Zealand in September.

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.