Summer Olympics 2020 bid race becomes Messi

Istanbul, Madrid trade blows in final stages of battling for hosting rights.

BUENOS AIRES:

The battle for the right to host the 2020 Summer Olympics entered its’ final stages on Tuesday, with the Istanbul bid saying in Buenos Aires that of the three candidates, they would be spending the least on ‘dedicated Olympic projects’.

Their claim will surprise many as one of their rivals Madrid’s strongest selling points was that the economic crisis in Spain would not affect their bid.

This is because their budget was a modest €2.37 billion as most of the venues and the infrastructure are already in place.

The Istanbul bid, which is also up against the third candidate Tokyo, may have hoped to take a bit of the wind out of the sails of Madrid, but the Spaniards had their own moment of triumph Tuesday when they secured the support of four-time world footballer of the year Lionel Messi.



The Argentinian’s support for Madrid may have come as something of a rude shock not only to supporters of his club Barcelona – bitter rivals of Real Madrid – but also to Istanbul as he promotes Turkish Airlines, one of the main sponsors of the Olympic bid.

‘Istanbul will have the lowest expenditure’  

Istanbul, though, will hope the revelation that their budget would be the lowest in terms of expenditure will strike a chord with International Olympic Committee (IOC) members.

Several of the candidates seeking to replace retiring IOC President Jacques Rogge on September 10 have made it clear they do not want to see the Games getting bigger and more expensive and unaffordable for some cities to host.

“Istanbul will have the lowest expenditure on dedicated Olympic projects,” said Istanbul 2020’s Director of Sport Alp Berker at their opening press conference. “$3 billion worth are already completed and in the ground.”

Meanwhile, Madrid, third and second in the races to host the 2012 and 2016 Games respectively, were excited at Messi’s support.

“I think it is good for sports if Madrid is awarded the Games — not only for the city, but also for the top-level athletes in Spain,” said Messi.

Tokyo, the only candidate city to have previously hosted the Games in 1964, kept a lower profile, with the Governor of Tokyo Naoki Inose saying they remained firmly on track.

“Our bid is completely united, one ‘Team Japan’ with Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe,” he said. “The overwhelming support from the Japanese people has given us even greater determination to do our very best to win.

“We are the safe pair of hands, one of the world’s safest cities and we have a substantial Games Hosting Fund of $4.5 billion already in the bank.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2013.

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