IOC evaluation trips end in Madrid

May 11, 2009

Now that the International Olympic Committee evaluation teams have completed their bid city visits, the countdown begins as they build their assessment report to be released Sept. 2. The IOC left Madrid on Friday, May 8. They spent five days listening to presentations and visiting venues that resulted in the same comments as the other bid cities: “We have been most impressed to find what the city of Madrid could offer the Olympic movement. Madrid is ready to organize the Games.”

Madrid, a losing bidder for the 2016 Games that was awarded to London, told the evaluation committee that “all the pieces are here.” “Madrid has ‘Olympism’ in its DNA,” Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon said. Madrid 2016 “offers a Games that is not just brilliant and efficient, but close together, and with a soul.”

One factor of the Madrid bid that strikes a different chord from the other bids is that 77 percent of the venues already exist or are currently under construction. Adjustments would be made to the venues to accommodate a high number of spectators. During the visit, the committee was able to physically see the compactness of the Games Madrid offers. This seemed to further impress the evaluation team. “Of course, this is added value for the bid of Madrid,” said chairwoman Nawal El Moutawakel. Another evaluator Gilbert Felli added that these pre-existing venues are “a good asset” but reassured the press that this did not sway their report.

Unlike during the other visits, El Moutawkel had to leave Madrid for Morocco, where she is the sports minister, on government business for two days. She was back for the final press conference and spoke as if she hadn’t missed any of the visit. Madrid organizers said they were “completely confident it will have no impact on the success of the IOC visit.”

The question of security has been an important issue in all the cities’ bids. At international events like the Olympics, it is not uncommon for there to be threats of violence. In some cities, violence is more likely than others. Spanish interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said separatist militants would not pose a threat to the 2016 Games if Madrid wins. The ability of a city “to organize a safe and secure Games” would weigh heavily in the committee’s technical assessment said El Moutawakel.

Now that the visits are done, the bid teams will travel to Switzerland on June 17-18 where each will do a technical presentation for all the IOC members that will answer the nitty gritty questions about their bid. In the time during, the evaluation committee said that they will “do a general assessment of what we believe is the risk in each of the cities.” Whether it’s the IOC’s risk to host their Games in the city or the city’s risk of hosting the Games, only the IOC will know.

The evaluation team visits and technical presentations are in their developing years. They were formed when a bribery scandal was exposed showing that individual IOC member visits to the bid cities resulted in a vulnerable situation. Bid cities could easily bribe the IOC members for their votes in return for things like cash and college scholarships.

But even though bribery has seemed to be diverted by the role of the evaluation committee, the secrecy of the visits has proven too tempting for the other bids. This last week, Rio de Janeiro filed a complaint with the IOC because they caught a paid consultant from Madrid 2016 acting as a journalist during the committee’s visit to Rio. It also has been revealed that Tokyo 2016 also paid a journalist to act as a spy during the Chicago visit. The visits have not been without their controversy.

After the technical presentations are over, each bid city will look for international sporting events to promote their bid. The Chicago bid hopes that the World Cup qualifier on June 6 in Chicago’s Soldier Field will help demonstrate their ability to host an international sporting event. The world championship swimming tournament in Rome and track and field tournament in Berlin also provide for a chance to promote bids this summer. A final decision for the 2016 host will be made Oct. 2 in Copenhage