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Olympics: Cities go on charm offensive as 2020 vote approaches
Olympic votes used to be carved up in secretive smoke-filled corridors. But in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel in Buenos Aires, there's nowhere to hide.
Overlooked by balconies and glass elevators, it's one of those airy atriums, all marble and light, so beloved of modern architects.
For the last few days this place has been getting more and more manic as Olympic officials arrive in Argentina from around the world for one of the most important International Olympic Committee meetings in a generation.
Olympic hosts since 1972
- 1972: Munich, West Germany
- 1976: Montreal, Canada
- 1980: Moscow, Soviet Union
- 1984: Los Angeles, US
- 1988: Seoul, South Korea
- 1992: Barcelona, Spain
- 1996: Atlanta, US
- 2000: Sydney, Australia
- 2004: Athens, Greece
- 2008: Beijing, China
- 2012: London, UK
- 2016: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The 125th session of the IOC will not only choose a host for the 2020 summer Games, it will also confirm the sports programme for that Olympics and elect a new president to replace Jacques Rogge, who is standing down after 12 years.
With so many different agendas at play, the lobby is bustling, full of tanned, grey-haired men in dark suits desperately pressing the flesh and back slapping. Everyone is talking to each other with one eye on someone else.
Representatives from the three cities bidding for 2020 - Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo - hover anxiously, trying to catch a word with members who may swing the vote their way.
Officials from Madrid, with their distinctive red ties, have set up shop at a coffee table right in the centre of the lobby. A source says they came here weeks ago to check out the best spot and then made sure the hotel's owners didn't give it away to any of their rivals.
"It was the perfect place," the source explained. "We could see everyone who was coming and going, who was coming down in the lifts or coming through the main entrance. Then we could easily create a situation where you bump into them and start a conversation."
That these bids are so carefully choreographed shouldn't be a surprise. One of the reasons for London's successful campaign for the 2012 Games was its meticulous strategy of courting IOC members.
With voting officials unable to visit each of the candidate cities, the vast majority of them know this is their only chance to have one-on-one conversations with the people who may end up staging the Games.
In the past they would have been able to go and check out the bidders for themselves but in the wake of the Salt Lake City corruption scandal - where members were found to have accepted gifts in return for votes - they are expected to rely on the report of an evaluation commission.
That's why each of the bid teams are given their own allocation of 10 to 12 rooms here at the Hilton to entertain members in more private surroundings. To ensure there are no awkward clashes as members shuttle from bid to bid, each city is given their own floor - Madrid on the fourth and Istanbul and Tokyo on the first and second.
In those rooms, each bid's visiting politicians and dignitaries are holding court for 14 or 15 hours a day - from breakfast to late-night drinks. Spain are hoping Prince Felipe can make the difference. Tokyo are also playing the royal card having brought Princess Hisako.
None of the bidders dare leave their most senior politicians at home - Spain's leader Mariano Rajoy is here as is Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Turkey's premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan was making calls to IOC members from his plane as he flew to Argentina for the election.
No wonder this place feels like a grand bazaar. It's made all the more frenetic by the IOC presidential election on Tuesday. In the wine bars, coffee shops and restaurants which surround the atrium, the six presidential candidates are busy trying to garner support.
Battle for the 2020 Olympics
Istanbul, Turkey; Madrid, Spain; Tokyo, Japan
Non-selected applicant cities:
Baku, Azerbaijan; Doha, Qatar
Rome, Italy
Proposed bids that did not go to application:
Brisbane, Australia; Cairo, Egypt; Berlin, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; Delhi, India; Nairobi, Kenya; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Guadalajara, Mexico; Casablanca, Morocco; Lisbon, Portugal
Thomas Bach, the favourite from Germany, moves from meeting to meeting, table to table. It's all designed for public consumption - a signal to the members that he is working the room and ready to listen.
But for all the apparent openness and transparency, you can't help feeling the real deals are still being done elsewhere, perhaps not in smoke-filled rooms (smoking has been banned in public places in Argentina since 2011), but in private suites on floors high above this lobby.
And for all the conversations going on, you sense with each one it becomes harder and harder to discern what's really going on.
Alex Gilady, an influential IOC member from Israel, says: "No one knows what is going to happen in these votes. It's done in secret and anyone who tells you they know is almost certainly lying."
So as the hours tick down to the 2020 decision, what can cities do to secure the votes they need?
Juanito Samaranch, the son of the former IOC president, now an IOC member himself and a senior figure in the Madrid bid, perhaps summed the atmosphere up best:
"In the end all you can do is run around like headless ducks."
But all the frenzied activity could just pay off. According to most IOC members I spoke with, this is one of the tightest contests for years.
Tokyo arrived here as clear favourites but have been undermined by concerns over the safety issues relating to the crippled nuclear power plant at Fukushima - 150 miles up the road.
Madrid is the city with momentum and there is no question they have powerful connections in the IOC. Their problem is the Spanish economy plus a number of other European cities such as Paris and Rome fancy bidding for the Games in 2024. Is it possible to win without the full backing of major European powers like France and Italy?
As for Istanbul, most people have been writing off their chances following the government's heavy-handed crackdown on street protests. But with perhaps as many as a third of the 97 IOC members said to be undecided, perhaps none of the cities should be ruled out.
As London's victory showed in 2005, the favourite doesn't always win. Back then Paris was expected to romp home but London's legacy promise and persuasive final presentations won the day.
Once again the final presentations will be critical, but for once this is a contest which may not be determined by the winner's strengths but by its ability to reassure the IOC about its weaknesses.
Comment number 81. Posted by sahoronon 7 Sept 2013 21:52
Hahaha Turkey shouldn`t be a candidate. Olympics represent democracy, respect to each other and peace. We all have seen how nice democracy they have with Mr. Dictator sorry Erdogan :)
Comment number 80. Posted by PHonnoron 7 Sept 2013 19:45
Let's hope princess royal stuck 2 fingers up to Madrid for what they are up to at gibraltar
Comment number 79. Posted by meredith_hunteron 7 Sept 2013 19:44
None of these three can hope to match London - one of the best Olympics I've witnessed. I'm just amazed that the UK managed to secure enough votes in the first place!
Well in terms of sport Beijing 4 years earlier was better. So how do you know these three can't match London?
Comment number 78. Posted by celticwarrior69on 7 Sept 2013 19:21
Last chance to seal those brown envelopes !!!
Whoops sorry my mistake this doesn't involve FIFA
Comment number 77. Posted by Wicked_Witch_of_the_West_Coaston 7 Sept 2013 19:18
I agree with what most people are saying.
- UK & Germany shouldn't be paying for Spain's Olympics
- We don't like the west-hating, human-rights-abusing Mr Erdogan
- Tokyo wins by default
No, the Japanese are slaughtering dolphins. They deserve nothing.
Comment number 76. Posted by Mike Mullenon 7 Sept 2013 19:16
I'd bet Madrid didn't get the British vote...
Comment number 75. Posted by young and in loveon 7 Sept 2013 19:11
please ......not Turkey ...... it's a dump
Comment number 74. Posted by mrmichaelhon 7 Sept 2013 19:09
Madrid OUT
Comment number 73. Posted by Race for your lifeon 7 Sept 2013 19:08
Madrid out.
We can breathe easily.
Wonder if the EU will get the bill for the bid in the morning instead!
Hope Japan gets it.
Comment number 72. Posted by Ciaran Donnellyon 7 Sept 2013 19:02
Tokyo has won the first round, they are now holding a tie break between Madrid and Istanbul to see who is eliminated
Comment number 71. Posted by PHonnoron 7 Sept 2013 18:57
I hope Istanbul gets it, wonderful city, beautiful people and will show the ioc to be a bit more progressive
Comment number 70. Posted by Muzzion 7 Sept 2013 18:45
I hope Turkey get it .... That region needs to bring Peace and our world needs peace .. And that means East and West joining up . Bring the world closer !
Comment number 69. Posted by Lizzieon 7 Sept 2013 18:16
67. Denis
Because someone decided that Turkey couldn't afford to host the Olympics because they weren't prepared to line Bernies pocket !
Comment number 68. Posted by Number 88on 7 Sept 2013 17:17
None of these three can hope to match London - one of the best Olympics I've witnessed. I'm just amazed that the UK managed to secure enough votes in the first place!
As to the current crop - you can choose between getting bankrupted in Spain, bombed in Turkey or microwaved in Japan.
None deserve it in my opinion!
Comment number 67. Posted by Denison 7 Sept 2013 17:10
Just tuned in. How did this become a F1 debate?
Comment number 66. Posted by Race for your lifeon 7 Sept 2013 16:47
Mr Ecclestone keep's putting the price up and many circuits struggle/refuse to pay.
Plus with low crowds (a circuit's only guaranteed income) they can barely balance the books. Ecclestone even takes trackside sponsorship income!
Plus many circuits have this belief you can run a race to a profit and get a rude awakening...
Comment number 65. Posted by Lizzieon 7 Sept 2013 16:37
Turkey refused to fund a Formula 1 race, not the same as not being able to afford to fund one !
Comment number 64. Posted by Alanon 7 Sept 2013 16:24
Spain needs to give up on Gibraltar
Japan needs to fix Fukoshima
Turkey can't even afford to host a Grand Prix.
You're right, it's a tough choice!
Comment number 63. Posted by wijajoon 7 Sept 2013 16:20
I agree with what most people are saying.
- UK & Germany shouldn't be paying for Spain's Olympics
- We don't like the west-hating, human-rights-abusing Mr Erdogan
- Tokyo wins by default
Comment number 62. Posted by Dr_Adamon 7 Sept 2013 16:19
"So if sense is based upon affordability then Turkey is deifnaitely the most sensible choice"
The same Turkey that was due to host an F1 race this year but backed out as it couldn't even afford to do that?
Meanwhile Spain & Japan had no problems putting on their F1 races...
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10 U.S. Code § 2734a - Property loss; personal injury or death: incident to noncombat activities of armed forces in foreign countries; international agreements
(a) When the United States is a party to an international agreement which provides for the settlement or adjudication and cost sharing of claims against the United States arising out of the acts or omissions of a member or civilian employee of an armed force of the United States done in the performance of official duty, or arising out of any other act, omission, or occurrence for which an armed force of the United States is legally responsible under the law of another party to the international agreement, and causing damage in the territory of such party, the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security or their designees may—
(1) reimburse the party to the agreement for the agreed pro rata share of amounts, including any authorized arbitration costs, paid by that party in satisfying awards or judgments on claims, in accordance with the agreement; or
(b) A claim arising out of an act of an enemy of the United States or arising, directly or indirectly, from an act of the armed forces, or a member thereof, while engaged in combat may not be considered or paid under this section.
(c) A reimbursement or payment under this section shall be made by the Secretary of Defense out of appropriations as provided in section 2732 of this title except that payment of claims against the Coast Guard arising while it is operating as a service of the Department of Homeland Security shall be made out of the appropriations for the operating expenses of the Coast Guard. The appropriations referred to in this subsection may be used to buy foreign currencies required for the reimbursement or payment.
(d) Upon the request of the Secretary of Homeland Security or his designee, any payments made relating to claims arising from the activities of the Coast Guard and covered by subsection (a) may be reimbursed or paid to the foreign country concerned by the authorized representative of the Department of Defense out of appropriations as provided in section 2732 of this title, subject to reimbursement from the Department of Homeland Security.
Source(Added Pub. L. 87–651, title I, § 113(a),Sept. 7, 1962, 76 Stat. 512; amended Pub. L. 90–521, § 4,Sept. 26, 1968, 82 Stat. 874; Pub. L. 94–390, § 1(1),Aug. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 1191; Pub. L. 98–525, title XIV, § 1405(42)(A),Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2625; Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title XIV, § 1481(j)(4)(B),Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1709; Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, § 1704(b)(1),Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314.)
|Revised section
|Source (U.S. Code)
|Source (Statutes at Large)
|31:224i–2 (less proviso).
|31:224i–2 (proviso, as applicable to 31:224i–2).
|31:224i–5 (as applicable to 31–224i–2).
|Aug. 31, 1954, ch. 1152, §§ 1 (less proviso, as applicable to § 2), 4 (as applicable to § 1), 68 Stat. 1006, 1007.
In subsection (a), the following substitutions are made: "Under" for "Pursuant to the terms"; "country" for "government"; "under its laws and regulations" for "in accordance with the laws and regulations of such foreign government"; "may" for "is authorized"; "amounts" for "sums"; and "spent" for "expended". The words "now or may hereafter be" are omitted as surplusage.
In subsection (b), the following substitutions are made: "act" for "action" and "may" for "shall".
In subsection (c), the words "pro rata" are omitted as surplusage. The following substitutions are made: "under this section" for "by the United States with respect to a settlement, award, or compromise made pursuant to sections 224i–2 to 224i–5 of this title"; "to buy" for "for the purchase of"; and "needed" for "necessary". The words "which appropriations are authorized" are omitted as unnecessary.
2002—Subsecs. (a), (c), (d). Pub. L. 107–296substituted "of Homeland Security" for "of Transportation" wherever appearing.
1990—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–510, § 1481(j)(4)(B)(i), substituted "as provided in section 2732 of this title" for "for that purpose".
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 101–510, § 1481(j)(4)(B)(ii), substituted "appropriations as provided in section 2732 of this title" for "the appropriation for claims of the Department of Defense".
1984—Pub. L. 98–525substituted "in foreign countries" for "; foreign countries" in section catchline.
1976—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 94–390substituted provisions authorizing the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Transportation to reimburse or pay, including arbitration costs, claims arising under international agreements to which the United States is a party and providing for settlement or adjudication and cost sharing based on the responsibility of the United States under the law of the other party to the international agreement, for provisions authorizing the Secretary of Defense to reimburse or pay claims arising under international agreements to which the United States is a party and providing for adjudication by the other country under its laws and regulations.
1968—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 90–521, § 4(a), provided for payment of claims against the Coast Guard arising while it is operating as a service of the Department of Transportation out of appropriations for operating expenses of the Coast Guard.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 90–521, § 4(b), added subsec. (d).
Effective Date of 2002 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 107–296effective on the date of transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, see section 1704(g) ofPub. L. 107–296, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


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Aperture Ghost Photography Theme v.1.3.1
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