MONACO: The International Olympic Committee yesterday unveiled plans for a new headquarters in Lausanne to accommodate growing staff and centralise its operations by 2020.
The IOC said the new building, on the site of their current HQ on the shores of Lake Geneva, would cost a total of $164.34m and would provide more space for the growing organisation and its 450 staff.
The IOC, which has added staff in the past year and expects more personnel to join with the creation of an Olympic TV channel, said it would take out a 20-year loan for the construction, expected to be completed in six years, despite having its own reserves of about half a billion dollars.
The IOC Session, on its final day in Monaco, also chose Peruvian capital Lima as the host of their 2017 session that will elect the host city for the 2024 summer Olympics.
Germany will bid for those Games with either Berlin or Hamburg while a US city is also expected to join the race. Bids are also likely from Rome, Paris, Budapest, Doha, Istanbul and an African city as well.
Potential bidders for the 2024 Summer Olympics will be invited for a consultation with the IOC as early as next month, with the body looking to enforce new bidding rules quickly.
So far, only Germany has officially announced it would submit a bid with either Berlin or Hamburg.
The invitation phase, introduced as part of 40 recommendations approved by the IOC on Monday, aims to improve communication between the cities and the IOC with respect to their Games concept.
The Olympic body is desperate to avoid cities withdrawing midway through the campaign, as happened in the 2022 winter Games bidding process with four of six candidates dropping out over financial concerns or lack of public support.
“We intend to launch this
invitation phase on January 15 next year and contact all the national Olympic committees who are in discussion about a potential bid,” IOC President Thomas Bach said.
“We will be very open. We will offer them either a meeting in Lausanne or send a technical delegation to the potential host city. This is not an evaluation. It’s up to potential candidate cities to raise the topics they think would be worthwhile raising at this point in time.”
The invitation phase is nonbinding and the IOC aims to turn the procedure into a more city-friendly affair rather than a straightforward tender process.
The IOC has also approved changes to reduce the cost of bidding that can reach $100m for the summer Games.
German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) officials, who will name their candidate city in March, said the January date would not change anything for them.
It would mean going with both their concepts to the invitation phase which would also help them decide which one to pick, they said.
Bach also ruled out re-opening the 2022 Games race after a suggestion by IOC member Dick Pound, saying that Kazakhstan’s Almaty and Beijing — the only two left — deserved to be where they are as they stayed in while others dropped out.
“You have always an advantage if you stay in competition. You cannot win if you don’t stay in the competition,” Bach said.
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