Other Sport

Africa: 20 year Olympic wait

2010-07-29 18:25
Email | Print
Olympic flag (File)

Zurich - Africa is unlikely to host the Olympics for at least 20 years despite the success of the Soccer World Cup in South Africa, which gave rise to hopes the continent might bid to host the Games soon, an IOC official has said.

"There is a huge amount of work to be done besides political desire, hence the experts' view that any realistic chance for (hosting the) Olympics in Africa is between 2030 and 2040," said Nawal El Moutawakel, who chaired the IOC's co-ordinating committee for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

"I have read studies by some universities specialising in the Olympics who gave Africa between 2030 and 2040 to host the Games and that is a very realistic chance because Olympics is a different ball game," she said.

The Moroccan 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 400m hurdles champion also chaired IOC's coordinating committee for the London 2012 Summer Games.

El Moutawakel is in the Kenyan capital Nairobi as part of the organising committee of the 17th African Athletics Championships which kicked off on Wednesday.

"I know South Africa did a wonderful job with the Soccer World Cup, right from the airport, going into the Johannesburg city and suburbs in wide smooth roads, to world class hotels and wonderful facilities in all the cities," she said.

This sparked hope among Africans that the continent could follow up by staging its first Olympics probably in 2020, she said.

"But the Soccer World Cup is one sport in nine cities, with 64 matches played by 32 countries in one month. Olympics is 26 sports in one city played by 10 500 athletes in three weeks and watched by billions around the world," El Moutawakel said.

"Let us face it. Africa has many unique problems and other priorities to handle at the moment. So I think those studies are not off the mark," she said.

But the Moroccan senior IOC official had some positive things to say about South Africa, commending them for winning the bid to host a full IOC session in Durban in July 2011 where the announcement for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games will be announced.

"That Durban won the bid to host this important IOC session shows the hard work they put in promoting international sport," she said.

South Korea's city Pyongchang will be bidding for the third time after losing to Vancouver and Sochi for the 2010 and 2014 Winter Games respectively. Other bidders are Annecy (France) and Munich (Germany).

 

Your Comments

Enculer8/2/2010 5:46 AM
Thank you and a huge applause for Michael for actually bringing some sense to this damn argument. As much as I consider myself a joburger, Durban will always be home and quite frankly there is no city on the planet that could potentially stage a better Olympics. Durban needs to build the least of all the SA cities to host the games. Moreover, all the facilities will be primarily within the same area which I imagine will be of great benefit. From a municipal planning perspective, it won't be too much of a headache to sort the new facilities out because there's so much space around the Kingspark precinct. CTians are ranting on about them being the tourist capital of SA and no one denies that... but look at the disaster of the Greenpoint Stadium. Not only is it an eyesore and was so disapproved of by the residents in the area that it nearly didnt materialise, the main problem is that IT WAS NOT DESIGNED TO STAGE ANYTHING OTHER THAN RUGBY/SOCCER. Anyone who comes to Durban and sees the new stadium has no choice but to be amazed. Its actually ADDED value to the city and as Mike ^%*@(*#&^@(*&^@@! (add any word you want) Sutcliffe has stated, it was designed with the Olympics in mind - which is why it can be modified to contain the Olympic requirement for a main stadium. There are so many reasons why CT will never get it but in short... Stop bitching and accept that Durban has a great shot at this. And it will actually benefit CT as well because a lot of people will go to CT after the games or maybe even before. I say win win. Stop making it a competition. Its not the Stormers against the Sharks. My primary concern for Durbans proposal is the impact of the marketing costs incurred. They have said just to propose a bid costs in the region of R1.5 billion... if Durbs doesnt get it what is the recourse? And as an economist I would like to know how much of that money will be leaving our shores or if its merely circulating in the hands of the marketing "gurus"... or possible the Mr mentioned above. If it stays in SA its potentially ok... if it has to leave the shores then big problem. I don't know how the IOC works on that. A point of mention is that Paris hired Luc Basson to do their "movie" and it cost them something chronic and they still lost... so that has to be a concern. That said, it would be interesting to know whether or not the economic spinoffs of merely bidding would indeed be justification in itself. For example, even if Durban were shortlisted in the top 5 what would the implications be for tourism/investment. What impact did CTs failed bid have on its economy? And of course, the best part is that national government picks up most of the cheque so its pretty much Gauteng that will end up paying anyway. As far as using the Olympic Village for low cost housing... absolutely brilliant. I don't know where they'll build it but its just like the world cup... when the country has to do something it does and the shortfall on housing developments is chronic so something like the Olympics will be the stimulus KZN needs to actually start spending its government grants appropriately... we are a country of desperate measures in my opinion and it takes something cataclysmic for us to get rolling... but somehow we always pull it off. I think its ingrained in our mentality that maybe we can't/shouldn't do it but when we have to we do. Not ideal... but it could be worse! Would the Gautrain really have happened without the WC? Would Durbs have built its new airport that they've been planning for 30 years? Management by crisis. My concerns for a Durban bid are the following: What will we do with all those stupid facilities we have to build once the games are finished? I mean we'll have to build a cycle track... archery... a whole bunch of other crap that will never be used. The difference with the new stadium is that it has value beyond its primary function - namely the skycar, arch walk, bungee swing etc... But what do you do with a stupid gymnasium hall? I imagine the ICC can handle some of this but we'll still have to build a lot of crap. And you think we'll use local guys to design and build it? Doubt it... so thats money flying out the country. They would have to make them as temporary as possible because realistically they will not be used more than once and I doubt the taxpayers want to sit around and pay for the useless monuments. Hopefully they won't be like Athens and consider this as an afterthought. Second concern: only 2 cities have EVER profited from the Olympics, namely LA and well I don't know the next one. Montreal hosted the games in the 70s and they're still paying it off. Again, this short term expenditure has to be considered simultaneously with the long term economic feasibility. The IOC member mentioned is from Morocco is she not? Who did we beat to host the WC? Morocco. Smacks of sour grapes and if Rogge, Blatter gave it the thumbs up then who gives a bollocks what she thinks. How can they give it to Rio and not have trepidations when if you read up on Brazil's preparations for their WC its so bad that FIFA has openly stated they are seriously concerned about what they're doing. They haven't even started building their stadium in Sao Paulo which is supposed to host the opening and closing matches. Imagine if we only started to build all our stadiums now for the 2014 event! It must be noted that the IOC appears to be following FIFA's trend of continental rotation. Africa had never had the WC... guess what. We've never had the Olympics... and don't forget about Durban beating Hong Kong to host the 2011 IOC Olympic selection meeting. It simply makes sense. In summation: CT will never get the SA nod so stop complaining or trying to justify it The IOC woman is highly prejudiced The Olympic village MUST be used for low cost housing The useless structures should be made of the most biodegradable materials possible Durban must not outsource excessively And I'm sure there are others but I doubt anyone will have read this whole thread anyway! Thumbs up Durbs... no matter where I am in 2020 I hope you make it!
Anti7/30/2010 11:31 AM
My athletic 2 year old will be in his prime by then. We'll start training now. I wonder which event we should focus on?
Observer7/30/2010 11:13 AM
I also agree that SA should NOT bid for the 2020 olympics. It will just be too expensive to host and create all the necessary infrastructe for the various sporting disciplines. And afterwards it will not be maintained or really benefit most SAfricans. The SWC was really great for SA, but the party is over and the country must rather commit to resolve all our domestic issues. Hopefully the Olympics will one day come to Africa - but only when the time is right.
Michael Tatalias7/30/2010 10:55 AM
Chin Up South Africa. This report is wrong. The Olympics is not harder than the World Cup, just different. Having been actively involved in preparing tourism in SA for the soccer world cup, this is typical Afro-pessimism (the self-doubt has annoyingly started again, already)... - not able to be bold enough to grasp the vision. The world is quite prepared to believe that we can do it, but we ourselves and the rest of Africa spend soooo much effort on talking down our abilities. I for one will not stand for this. The evidence does not support the negativity. We CAN, and MUST bid for the 2020 Olympics. We may not win the bid, but key to maintaining the WC2010 momentum is keep bidding for all events. If we don't get Olympics 2020 (and I cannot see why anyone could possibly beat us...), we should carry on bidding until we do get it. Having a fixed deadline was the best thing for cabinet and government - it focused their minds wonderfully and inspired actual delivery - which for the 14 years before had been patchy at best. The Olympics will do the same - get senior government egos on the line and ensure that action is taken. The Olympics is much better for the citizens than a soccer world cup. The vast number of athletes requires a dedicated village and transport infrastructure, and pretty much a re-design of the city that is chosen to host it. re-design = delivery = good. On a much smaller scale SA has previously hosted the African Athletic Games (currently on in Kenya). The Athletes village was designed to be the East Bank of Alexandra, and that area is part of the rejuvination of Alex. Soccer only builds big stadiums, Olympics builds proper cities by spending on development that can be used by citizens. Durban is best placed to bid. The event has to be, for TV revenues (the only thing that FIFA and IOC care about) in the European summer, so our winter. And the IOC fears altitude. Thus Durban is probably our best bet. Durban is warm enough. Also, Durban cleverly designed the Moses Mabida stadium to handle athletics, so job done already for the main stadium. It is right next door to Kingspark, which can handle a significant amount of events itself. Plus don't forget that there is already a large Olympic pool across the road from Moses Mabida (where we host the national swimming champs every year, and good enough to attract international swimmers). But wait, that's not all....there is sufficient land around Moses Mabida precinct to build all the other sports facilities required for the Olympics. Plus there is the massive harbour, sea and a large dam and river (Duzi held there every year, plus Comrades route for the marathon....) to host all the water events like sailing. The open land around the stadiums can be expanded by using unused rail/transnet land for the massive train station. Plus there is already a well linked metro rail system that can be expanded to provide the spine of the transport infrastructure. There is also large amounts land around the NEW (large) airport that could be used for the athletes village, and could be the core of a hi-tech/Silicon Valley type growth node for future growth opportunities. The joy of this is that a massive event like this unlocks national and provincial money, alongside the relevant city's own development funds. This money needs to be spent, a big event gives it focus. if you think R40 billion is a lot of money (mostly what was spent in the lead-up to FIFA2010, go re-look the annual national budget, and see how much money we spend on development. We are a big country, with large budgets, not a piddly banana republic. Fixed and visible targets (don't get much more visible than FIFA or IOC) "help" government to do real delivery, and force genuine and productive public-private partnerships - and give focus. Proper PPPs are actually what got the World Cup done. All this already exists. The rest can be built, and easily. Can we build it? Of course, YES WE CAN. SA construction firms built the deepest gold mining industry, all our cities, all our stadiums, most of Dubai and the Middle East, the Katse pump-storage dam and infrastructure, the Gautrain (fabulous, do yourself a favour and take a trip on it as a tourist).... We have a strong history of building on-time and on-buget. Which is why they are contracted to build around the world. We HAVE already PROVED our abilities. This report is CRAP. And we all need to actively counter it and tell everyone - WE CAN DO IT. In fact 2020 may be too long a wait. We are ready now. Hosting the Olympics is part of our internal tourism industry long term vision under discussion right now. We achieved the FIFA for 2010, and probably will get 10 million visitors this year, up from 600 000 in 1994. The 20/20 vision calls for - 20 million visitors by 2020, the Olympics in 2020, being in the Top 20 in the Anholt Roper Nation Branding Study and WEF Tourism rankings. Big and challenging goals - but we can do it! We could possibly even host the Olympics by 2016 (allocated to Brazil) - we delivered the FIFA2010 in only 6 years - so given enough willpower and money reallocation. The talent, drive and skill already exists right here in SA. All we need is political willpower to allow us to get going. Sadly, the tourism industry can't bid for this by ourselves (or we would have already), the relevant sporting codes have to do the bid - so SASCOC has to get going, and SOON. And we have to magically find another Danny to champion the process in SASCOC.... Let us not forget, that in 2011, the Durban ICC is hosting the IOC conference. It is a massive opportunity to start our bidding process. A key point is that to win the Olympics we have to get the Commonwealth Games, often seen as a tester for Olympic ability. Much like FIFA uses the Confed Cup to test for the World Cup. Now there we are much harder pressed for time - so our bidding and planning teams should be set-up and funded now. This month, next week. NOW. Now is not the time for fear, trepidation, self-doubt. At the risk of being called arrogant, I firmly believe that people who are negative about our ability to host the Olympics quite simply haven't understood the question or the issues. Now is the time believe and get united in taking our country forward. The Olympics is only one of many projects that we should be tackling. It is a signature project, and one that we should try VERY HARD to get. We have never failed in hosting an event, and are now the only country in the world to have hosted 3 world cup tournaments (soccer, rugby, cricket), hosted the IPL with 3 weeks notice, successfully hosted the WSSD, Non-Aligned Movement, CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government), the largest medical conferences like the AIDS conference, .... the list goes on and on. When we host the Olympics, then we become a VERY unique country, and must then be acknowledged as the expert country on hosting events of all sorts.
@kb7/30/2010 10:51 AM
I dont agree with you, for one having the Olympics gives us a target to work towards , we as a country need motivation in order to get things done, when do you think we would have such good roads. secondly I don’t know when last you have you been to Durban , most of the infrastructure is there so it won’t cost that much to add additional stuff, plus most of the time people like you complain that Public areas don’t get look after , after the Olympics the city of Durban will have state of the art facilities. Thirdly by adding things like an Olympic village would be better than building allot of RDP houses. Plus preparation for this event will create jobs for the next 10 years.
Xolani7/30/2010 8:56 AM
She's Moroccan after all. I'm sure she fencies the Middle East (where humans could be used as targets in the shooting range during olympics) to host the tournament. These people hate Africa and Africans unashamedly.
Tman7/30/2010 8:40 AM
What a lot of BULL
@ Piet7/30/2010 8:31 AM
Quickly go the Benoni Newscafe and get some brandy and coke and just maybe you'll see the world in different light.
ian7/30/2010 8:22 AM
For the present lets put the Olympics aside and focus on getting the full value of the WC we have just hosted. We are taking our eye "off the ball". The momentum that was started there needs to be maintained and benefitted from - then we can evaluate our Olympic potential and abilities
KB7/30/2010 8:17 AM
I agree with not hosting this event as yet as it is totally different and taking into account sport villages and additional infrastructure etc. We already have 1million jobless over the past year and jobs need to be created on a wider scale than just that required for an olympic event lasting 3 weeks. And the rich will get richer. I also sometimes think that SA feels that the world owes us and when we do not get everything we want we start throwing tantrums... Cape Town was a case in point some years back.
sprints7/30/2010 8:01 AM
I personally think that it IS possible to successfully host the Olympic games here. Sure it has it's own unique organizational problems, but it can be done. We have successfully hosted the Cricket, Rugby and Soccer World Cup events, and a while back didn't we also host the African Games (I think it was that event) as well? The problem will come about AFTER the games as we are now seeing after the SWC. Has anyone noticed how a couple of weeks after the event that crime has escalated, service delivery has declined seriously (check out the robots in Malibongwe Drive for the entire week!) and civil worker strikes are immanent (and who can really blame them?). Almost like there was a moratorium on these issues during the SWC and now that it is history, it's "business as usual"... Another day dawns in "die nuwe SA", Sigh!
Fandash7/30/2010 7:54 AM
Some things are best left to the experts, athletes are not necessarily those experts. SA is more than capable of hosting a successful Olympics and I would venture Durban as the host city. A lot of the basic infrastructure is already in place and if we follow London's example we would be able to utilise the facilities after the games to very good effect.
Nad7/30/2010 7:49 AM
What rubbish, this is exactly the same thing they said when the african nations bid for the world cup. Whilst i do agree it might not be in our best interests due to costs, i do believe we can pull it off. And to all you pessimists who say we can't do it...you are the same people who ate the words after a succesful SWC.
Are Sea7/30/2010 7:10 AM
@Tshepo - spot on. She is just another BladyAgent, along with @Right on and @Piet. Get out... don't touch us on our Olympics!!!
SA-Positive7/30/2010 7:00 AM
Soccer world cup is the biggest event on earth, Olympics is half the time frame and in one city... Give us a chance as he'll be eating his words along with the rest of world again..... MZANI magic will never fade my friend get used to it!!!
Michael7/30/2010 6:51 AM
Correct. Stay away from the Olymics. Where would that money come from. We already now got problems to utilize all these new beautiful stadia. SA got other problems, which still have not been sorted out.
Ronald7/30/2010 6:26 AM
keep ur olympics and spare us more taxpayers money wastage on few greedy morons
Rob7/30/2010 5:46 AM
I wonder what South Africa will look like in 20 years???
Hannes from Perth7/30/2010 4:35 AM
SA debt compared to GNP is manageable and the position is much better than is is in most European countries including the UK. The way world sport is run by the governing bodies forces countries to invest billions on infrastructure that is only used once. It would make far sense to synchronise these events so that countries do not end up with white elephants and end up in trouble like Greece did after the Olympics.
20 Years!?7/30/2010 4:16 AM
There will be NOTHING left in Africa by 2030 mate!
spagmm7/30/2010 12:43 AM
@Tshepo. Nawal El Moutawakel is a woman NOT a Mr
thomas 7/29/2010 11:52 PM
aaahhhhhhh this Arabs they are ricist thatall,am leving with them i knwo what is irriteting his heat.this people even us to host WC they didnt want.
Really!?7/29/2010 10:45 PM
I remember something similar was said about hosting the world cup. Fact is that the soccer world cups is the biggest sport with the biggest following. If SA could do that I don't see why they couldn't do the olympics
GNPLK7/29/2010 10:27 PM
Good news, bad news. When and if the time comes, it would be a great event to support.
annon7/29/2010 9:38 PM
Didn't South Africa beat Morrocco to host the 201 world cup? I will take her comments with a pinch of salt. Although, I do think SA can host an olympics, we can use that money for the people -
Fair play7/29/2010 7:53 PM
What a load of rubbish . Cape Town would have hosted the 2004 games had it not been for some Sheep Shearer delegate from New Zealand. We proved to the world despite huge sceptism from those outside Africa , that we could host a very successful world cup . Now some date eater from Morocco has the audacity to say that we could not host the Olympics. How many more times must we prove to the world that as a nation we are unique and that for organisation and hospitality we are tops. Hope he chokes on his date pips.
Tshepo7/29/2010 7:35 PM
Didn't the expects also say that South Africa will never host a succesfull soccer World Cup??? Please Mr Nawal, don't patronise us....
Right on7/29/2010 7:35 PM
Some sense at last.
Piet7/29/2010 7:30 PM
Thank god ! The Olympics would bankrupt us.
Your Name
*
Email
*
Comment
*
 
Please enter the text below:

*
 
 

Video Gallery
Play

Victoria Azarenka collapses

Roger Federer chocolate ad

Francois Hougaard - try-saving tackle

Front Row Grunt - Tank's blog

It's monstrous! It's the Leopards vs Pumas!

PSL

The battle for supremacy in South Africa begins

Featured Blog

Bring the roar back!

John Mitchell, a world class, former All Black coach, has been released from his contract by the Western Force to coach the Lions. If there's one coach that can restore the Lion's roar it is John Mitchell, so says Lobo...

Latest blogs

Amazed Angry Gutted 9/3/2010 8:06:50 AM

Don't shoot the messenger... 9/3/2010 7:50:37 AM

Danone nations Cup Champions Plant Gardens with help from The Food Gardens Foundation 9/3/2010 7:42:41 AM

Vote

Do SA Paralympian stars Oscar Pistorius and Natalie du Toit get sufficient recognition?

Who is your Hero?

Nominate your hero and win R10 000!

Twitter Follow Sport24 on Twitter

Newsletters Sign up for Sport24's Morning Glory newsletter

Blogs Yes your opinion counts. Get it out there

WIN Enter and win with Sport24!

Mobile Sport24 on your mobile phone - WAP, alerts, downloads, services

BlackBerry Stay in the loop on your BlackBerry

iPhone Latest Sport24 news on your iPhone

Free email Get a free 24.com e-mail account and stay in touch

TV schedule Plan your couch time with our searchable sport TV guide

RSS Feeds Sport news delivered really simply.