Strong hosting interest confirms key role for Olympic Games in post-coronavirus world

The Future Host Commissions (Summer and Winter) reported to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session this Friday on the breadth of their discussions so far with up to 15 parties interested in hosting Olympic Games, Olympic Winter Games and Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

Both commissions were inspired to hear that interested parties are confident that the Games can play a fundamental role in their regions’ efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, as theOlympic Agenda 2020reforms allow for flexibility to align Olympic projects with their future development plans.

This interest also demonstrates that sport can play not just a positive social role, but also an economic one in helping the world to recover from the crisis.

The Future Host Commissions will encourage and assist interested parties in re-thinking their vision and how their Games projects could be even more relevant in a post-coronavirus environment. They will do this through the greater amount of services and information provided by the IOC, which are features of itsnew approach to future host elections

Offering updates on the COVID-19 response from the Olympic Movement, in particular regarding the postponed Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, will also provide a clearer picture of how future Games will look, as outlined by President Bach in his recentletter to the Olympic Movement, entitled “Olympism and Corona”.

Since one of the current priorities for the Olympic Movement is to support the containment of the virus, the IOC understands that interested parties might need to re-focus their efforts at the moment. Flexibility is one of the key drivers of the new approach, which means discussions can follow different cadences according to each context.

The IOC is pleased to be in non-committal discussions with a number of interested parties about future hosting opportunities for either the Games or the YOG – some of which are simultaneously exploring the possibility of organising a Summer or a Winter edition. This is yet further evidence of the importance of the Olympic values in today’s uncertain world.

Given the different stages of interest among the various parties engaged in these discussions, it is part of the mandate of the Future Host Commissions to respect the confidentiality requested by each party on the advancement of their project.