By Maria Pia Beltran, AIPS Young Reporter
LAUSANNE – IOC President Thomas Bach's concluding press conference at the IOC Executive Board Meeting started with one hour of delay because of further discussions between the EC members gathered at the IOC Headquarters in Chateu du Vidy, Lausanne.
BOARDING "I leave for Rio de Janeiro tomorrow to meet the Rio2016 Organizing Committee and staff, and the President of Brazil Mrs. Dilma Roussef to discuss the progress being made in these past weeks," started Bach. "We are very confident about the positive development of preparations and I can say that the FIFA World Cup is encouraging us in the conviction that we will have a fantastic Games in Rio".
The IOC President watched the match between Brazil and Germany yesterday evening together with the IOC EB and was seated just beside Carlos Nuzman, Rio2016 Organizing Committee Director, demonstrating their own fair play, as one is German and the other Brazilian.
NO FEAR The IOC President doesn't agree that Brazil's 7-1 defeat to Germany in the semifinal of the World Cup could change the country's expectations of hosting the Games in two years: "As you know Brazilians are famous for being optimistic and enthusiastic concerning sport. There is always a small period of mourning after such a loss, but I am sure that the country will go back to being proud of hosting such a successful World Cup," Bach said, " just as we did in Germany for the 2006 World Cup when the team lost in the semifinal, with even in a more dramatic last minute defeat. This World Cup is really supporting the organization of the Olympic Games, there is no doubt about that."
'THREE STRONG CANDIDATES' Concerning Monday's Executive Board decision to admit the three applicant cities throught to the candidature phase, the IOC President declared himself satisfied: "With these three strong candidates we are sure that there will be good Games in 2022," he underlined during the press conference. "To keep public opinion and interest growing towards the positive opportunity that the Games represent we have to explain things better. What these cities and future applicants need is a better clarification of our system for bidding and organizations. We have to show that it is a very transparent procedure and that it works well. We need to explain the logic of the two different budgets better and talk about it more . This is an easy task when you speak to a business community, but common people do not understand this so matter-of-factly: I would say that it's like counting the costs of a house warming party into the cost of building a house."
OLYMPIC AGENDA 2020: A revolution started in the Olympic World with the election of Thomas Bach almost one year ago. It's first product is the Agenda 2020, the project of collecting all the aspects that need to be changed before the IOC Extraordinary Session planed for December in Monte Carlo. The 14 IOC Working Groups are finalizing their assessments and there will be an Olympic Summit in ten days, on July, 19. The IOC Commissions are meeting in September to discuss the different proposal that have come out from the different stakeholders: "The Executive Board will have another meeting in October in a kind of brainstorming and relaxed environment outside Lausanne, which will allow us to concentrate on the Olympic Agenda 2020 and prepare the recommendation for the Extraordinary IOC Session in Monte Carlo," the IOC President explained. "We have received a lot of input and enthusiasm from all the stakeholders who are pushing us in a very constructive way, I think the vote in December will reflect this momentum of change in the IOC".
