Crime more than ‘public safety challenges’ for Rio 2016 bid

About 24 hours before the International Olympic Committee’s release on Wednesday of its evaluation commission report on the four finalists to host the 2016 Summer Games, a shootout between police and robbers described as drug traffickers forced the authorities to shut down a main artery near Rio de Janeiro’s international airport for five to 15 minutes until gunfire stopped, depending on which newspaper report you read.

One major newspaper, O Globo, (the story linked is in Portuguese) said many motorists were forced to hide behind their cars or try to flee by making U-turns into oncoming traffic. The newspaper also said the suspects tried to throw a grenade at the police.

A day after the IOC evaluators’ report euphemistically called crime in Rio “public safety challenges” that the city has addressed in a way “already showing positive results,” the newspaper Folha reportedthat a gun battle between police SWAT teams cracking down on drug traffickers in a shantytown (favela) on Rio’s south side led to the closing of three schools and two child care centers as a safety measure.

Such shootouts, involving either the police and criminals, or rival drug gangs fighting each other in the favelas, are not uncommon in Rio. (For proof, put the words “tiroteio” and “Rio” into the search mechanisms of either Google or YouTube.)

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Madrid vows to fight for 2016 Olympic Games

Madrid, Sep 3 (DPA) Despite the criticism its bid got from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluating commission report, Madrid now feels strengthened in the home stretch of the race to host the 2016 Olympics.
“Without any kind of triumphalism, but based on deep analysis, we have to say that Madrid comes out of this report stronger,” said Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, mayor of Madrid, here Wednesday.

“Madrid is going to fight till the end. With all its strength, quality and competitive elements,” he added.

The IOC made public Wednesday the non-binding report drafted by its evaluating commission after visiting Madrid and its rival cities – Rio de Janeiro, Chicago and Tokyo.

The final decision on the host of the 2016 Olympics is set to be made by the 107 voting members of the IOC in Copenhagen, Oct 2.

The report praised Madrid’s infrastructure and the facts that most facilities are within a 10-kilometre radius and that 23 out of 33 facilities have already been built.

However, the bid also got strong criticism regarding administrative coordination, anti-doping legislation and general presentation. According to the commission, the bid “varied in quality.”

“That refers to the form and not the substance of the project,” Ruiz Gallardon argued.

Rio de Janeiro’s bid was regarded as “very high quality”, while Chicago and Tokyo were said to be “high quality”.

Gallardon described Madrid as “the city that received the most praise and the least criticism” in the report.

“We have the most positive elements to strengthen our bid, the substantial elements that should lead IOC members to decide,” he said.

Spain’s Secretary of State of Sports, Jaime Lissavetzky, vowed to clear up confusion around Spain’s anti-doping legislation.

“At the time of the visit, it was unclear whether Spanish anti-doping legislation complied with the WADA code. It is important that this issue is resolved,” the IOC commission’s report said.

The government of socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero issued a decree with less restrictive rules. It no longer forced sportsmen and -women to be permanently available for testing and restricted out-of-competition testing between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m.

Lissavetzky stressed Wednesday that the Spanish government would be “willing to modify” legislation if it is deemed not to be in accordance with WADA requirements.

The report left a sweet-and-sour flavour in bid officials.

“Sweet because they have seen that our project is good, sour because we have not been good at explaining it,” said bid CEO Mercedes Coghen. “We are not good communicators.”

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Chicago 2016 chief: ‘We’re in perfect position’

(Crain’s) — If nothing else, Patrick G. Ryan and the Chicago 2016 bid team got a morale boost from the International Olympic Committee’s report on the four finalists.

Released a month before the IOC votes on a site for the 2016 Summer Games, the report highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the respective bids — but deliberately did not compare them to each other. There were no bombshells, and Mr. Ryan was clearly relieved, but he went to great lengths not to appear overconfident.

“We have a lot of momentum. We feel we’re in a perfect position. Nobody’s saying we’re the favorite, and that’s good,” Mr. Ryan said.

The report praised Chicago’s concept for a games on the lakefront with minimal need to construct new facilities or infrastructure. Yet it sounded a familiar note of caution about Chicago’s “ambitious” revenue goal of raising $1.8 billion in corporate sponsorships, the most ever for an Olympics.

“Who shouldn’t be ambitious if you’re from Chicago and to have this great market to draw from?” Mr. Ryan, who made his fortune selling insurance as well as optimism, said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference at Chicago 2016’s downtown headquarters.

He joined a chorus of spin from the three other finalist cities — Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo — that played up the positives in the review and downplayed the negatives.

One Chicago weakness: the evaluation commission’s concern that the city has yet to sign a financial guarantee that would protect the IOC from any financial losses. The City Council is expected to vote next week to authorize Mayor Richard M. Daley to sign the contract.

“There is nothing in those issues (raised in the report) we cannot resolve or have not resolved,” Mr. Ryan said.

While the financial guarantee issue has drawn a lot of media attention and was noted in Wednesday’s report, Mr. Ryan said, “in talking with IOC members, I haven’t found people to be thrown by that. They’re judging us by what they’ve seen in the plan.”

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Evaluation Report – Main Points

Chicago

• The IOC said Chicago’s proposed financing presents a risk. The city set a $750 million (euro527 million) cap on guarantees to cover a shortfall in the organizing budget.

• Overall, the budget is “ambitious but achievable.” Chicago must generate $1.83 billion (euro1.29 billion) in revenue from sponsors.

• The bid placed a “heavy financial reliance” on the organizing committee to deliver infrastructure and temporary venues.

• However, Chicago demonstrated “thorough planning and a full understanding of the complexity” of its venue plan, including temporary arenas in public parks.

• Chicago proposes to use 15 existing venues plus one already planned; construct six permanent venues — including the Olympic Stadium and swimming arena _ that would later be scaled down; and nine temporary venues.

• Relying on temporary and scaled down venues “increases the element of risk” in delivering the games.

• The IOC questioned the ability of Chicago’s public transport links and traffic control plans, especially around McCormick Place.

• While the Olympic site was compact, it relied on a “significant increase” in the capacity and use of public transport, including doubled peak-time demand on the Metra Rail System. This could be a “major challenge.”

• On security, the IOC welcomed the federal government taking “full financial and operational responsibility.” But it called for a clearer description of how the city and organizing committee would share roles and responsibilities to ensure the committee was not overburdened trying to deliver infrastructure.

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Tokyo

• Praise and criticism for Tokyo follow consistent themes: finance is secure but public support is relatively low.

• The city government has financially guaranteed the games and set aside a $3.7 billion (euro2.6 billion) reserve fund.

• National and city governments have guaranteed to finance infrastructure and cover any potential shortfall in the organizing budget.

• Tokyo has the lowest public backing in IOC polls, with 55.5 percent of residents supporting the bid and 7.8 percent strongly opposed.

• The bid aims to build on the legacy of Tokyo’s successful hosting of the 1964 Summer Games in a “socially, environmentally and economically sustainable” project.

• The IOC praised the bid for minimizing athletes travel times with a “very efficient” venue plan. All but the shooting would take place within 8 kilometers (5 miles) of the city center. But there was a “lack of clarity” on claims that most venues are ready. Some “listed as existing would in fact need to be built.”

• Tokyo also faces challenges to control traffic around the athletes’ village and Olympic Stadium, and there’s concern about the size of land area available to build the Olympic Village.

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Rio de Janiero

• Rio has “strong” public support in IOC polling, with 84.5 percent of residents in favor of the bid and only 4 percent strongly opposed.

• City, state and federal governments have guaranteed to finance the infrastructure costs and cover any potential shortfall in the organizing budget.

• Rio’s venue plan would fit with ongoing urban regeneration, especially the city’s waterways and key development zones, as part of a $240 billion (euro169 billion) federal program.

• The IOC said a Rio Olympics would accelerate delivery but also need “careful management and monitoring” of projects.

• Brazil’s hosting of football’s World Cup in 2014 will “accelerate infrastructure delivery” in Rio. However, hosting the world’s two biggest sports events within two years presents a “challenge” to marketing and communications strategies.

• Rio has accommodation issues with a shortage of hotel rooms. It plans to use four villages and six cruise ships to house people.

• This project, plus a planned 20,000 room media village in Barra district, would require “particular attention” in planning and delivery phases.

• With public safety and crime levels a concern, Rio is praised for achieving positive results from engaging communities in social and sports programs.

• Rio’s geography of mountains and coastline could impact on travel distances for some athletes.

• Effective transport operations _ including dedicated Olympic road lanes and new infrastructure — would be “critical.”

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Madrid

• Madrid enjoys the strongest public backing in IOC polls, with 84.9 percent of residents supporting the bid and only 2.8 percent strongly opposed.

• But the bid team suffered from showing the IOC it did not fully understand the roles and responsibilities of delivering a complex, multi-sports event.

• The confused management structure “could result in organizational and financial challenges,” the IOC said.

• National, regional and city governments have provided “strong” financial support and would cover any potential shortfall in the organizing budget.

• Madrid’s concept is “highly compact” and efficient with 23 of 33 venues in place and two more venues already being built.

• It could face “significant” challenges to create the Olympic Stadium and the venue for rowing, flat water canoeing and open water swimming.

• All but two competition venues can be accessed by public transport within 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) of the city center. Shooting is just outside the zone and sailing is 361 kilometers (224 miles) away in Valencia with a separate athletes’ village.

• Madrid is praised for its buildings legacy. The city would own the athletes’ village and the media village would later be used for social housing.

• The IOC questioned whether Spanish anti-doping laws complied with the World Anti-Doping Agency code. The issue was “important” to resolve.

• Madrid suffered in comparison with its three rivals for providing documents and presentations that “varied in quality.”

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Compiled by the Associated Press

Rio bandwagon: IOC keeps on loving city’s bid

LONDON – The Rio bandwagon seems to be picking up speed.

Rio de Janeiro’s bid to take the Olympics to South America for the first time in 2016 gained further momentum Wednesday when the Brazilian city came off best in a technical evaluation of the four candidate cities.

Chicago, meanwhile, came in for some pointed negative comments — including its financial guarantees and public transportation — and Madrid and Tokyo also took some direct hits from the International Olympic Committee.

The 98-page report from the IOC’s evaluation commission was released exactly a month before the IOC vote in Copenhagen on Oct. 2.

“The IOC report is a real boost to the Rio bid,” bid president Carlos Nuzman told The Associated Press. “They have provided a very strong confirmation of our games plan and vision. It is fair to say Rio has a very positive report, and possibly the most favorable. We didn’t have any red points.”

The report, which did not grade or rank the cities, is intended only as a guide for IOC members and is unlikely to sway the final decision. Intangible factors, including geopolitical issues, always play a major role when the IOC’s 100-plus members cast their secret ballots.

The report is based on visits by the evaluation commission in April and May, and was issued two months after more than 90 members listened to presentations from the bid cities in Lausanne, Switzerland, where most of the key issues were already covered.

In what shapes up as a tight race, the final presentations on the day of the vote could be crucial. Whether President Barack Obama goes to Copenhagen to lobby for Chicago could be decisive, just as Tony Blair helped secure the 2012 Olympics for London when he met IOC members in Singapore in 2005 and Vladimir Putin traveled to Guatemala City in 2007 to push Sochi’s winning bid for the 2014 Winter Games.

“Clearly having President Obama there would be an advantage,” Chicago bid leader Patrick Ryan said, “particularly since each of the other cities are saying that their leaders will be there.”

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Ryan: Chicago should have agreed earlier to Olympic pledge

– Philip Hersh

Chicago 2016 chairman Patrick Ryan says the city’s bid could have avoided some of the criticism on financial guarantees expressed in the International Olympic Committee’s evaluation report today if the city had agreed earlier to sign the standard host city contract.

In an interview with the Tribune, Ryan said the host city contract provides guarantees not only for the Games operating budget but for the construction of the $1 billion Olympic Village, an area of concern raised by the IOC evaluation report.

Chicago initially had asked for exceptions to the standard contract to limit the city’s liability.  Once the IOC rejected that request, Mayor Richard M. Daley told the IOC in June that the city would sign the standard contract.

But the evaluation commission report was written before Daley’s change of mind, and it notes issues with both general and Olympic Village guarantees.

The city’s pledge covers the Village, which is to be privately financed and developed, Ryan said.

“There are three things,” Ryan said. “They (the host city) agree to deliver the Games, they agree to deliver the Village, and they agree to deliver an indemnity for the IOC.”

Ryan answered, “of course,” to the question of whether he wished the host city contract issue could have been resolved earlier.

“You have to deal with the cards available,” he said.

Here is what Ryan said about assuring IOC members that the city can avoid other potential risks raised in the report.

– Transportation:  “One example is the $12 billion recently appropriated (for improvements).  That is real, and it is going to go forward.”

– Weather (and wind).  “(That surprised me) a little, but I’m not really worried about it.”

– The risk of using what the report called “major temporary or scaled-down venues.”   Ryan said, “We look at the total risk to the plan in the OCOG (Games organizing) budget and the non-OCOG budget.  The risk they were talking about was in the OCOG budget, but it would have been far greater risk to the city and the taxpayers if in fact we were building white elephants.  I think it’s more a matter of allocation of where the risk is.  I look at the aggregate risk, and I think we have the aggregate risk under tremendous control and the OCOG risk under great control.”

– Sponsorship revenues, described as “ambitious but achievable” in the report:  “If  you compare them to recent Games, they are high.  If you compare them to Games in the U.S., they are not.  But what I think is the biggest differentiator is the Games never have been held in a market like Chicago.  L.A. in 1984 wasn’t even close and it isn’t close today.  There has never been the universe of potential sponsors that Chicago brings.”

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IOC report gives finalists cause for celebration, concern

– Philip Hersh, David Heinzmann

The International Olympic Committee’s evaluation of the four finalists for the 2016 Summer Olympics gave supporters of each bid reasons for celebration and concern as they head into the final month of the campaign.

The IOC evaluation commission report, issued this morning on the Internet, found flaws with each of the bids, some based on outdated information.
The report is unlikely to be the decisive factor in the Oct. 2 vote for the 2016 Summer Games host.

Chicago’s bid committee already has addressed two of the issues raised in the 98-page report, which was based on information the 13-member evaluation commission gathered during visits to Chicago, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid this spring.

Rio is considered the emotional favorite in its bid to bring the first Olympics to South America, a historic point the report noted.

The report also may have enhanced Rio’s chances by politely calling the city’s high violent crime rate “public safety challenges” and praising Rio for a “new approach with regard to local policing” that is “already showing positive results.”

“We are encouraged by the fact that the report confirms that Rio is meeting its public safety challenges,” Rio bid chairman Carlos Nuzman said in a statement.

The role of the 13-member evaluation commission has evolved over the past 15 years into producing a report on risk assessment that does not give the cities numerical grades or rankings.

Once the IOC began cutting the fields from applicants to candidates (or finalists), it has been assumed all the finalists are capable of staging the Games, which the report stated.

A risk highlighted for Chicago’s bid, the planned use of many temporary venues, reflects an IOC desire to have its cake and eat it, too.

Based on the 2003 report of a Games study commission, the IOC espouses the idea of not wanting host cities to build expensive, permanent venues that will become underused, costly-to-maintain white elephants.  Yet it also is thrilled when a city like Beijing goes overboard to do just that.

In its detailed evaluation of the Chicago bid’s response to the 17 themes assessed, the report praises the city’s concept for being “in line with the IOC Games Study Commission recommendation to `build a new venue only if there is a legacy need…”’

In the same sentence, the report says that means a greater burden on the Olympic organizing committee (OCOG) to pay for and deliver that part of the project, as opposed to cities that build permanent structures and do not assign their cost and development to the Games operations (OCOG) budget.

In its summary of the Chicago bid, the report says there is increased risk in Chicago due to an “emphasis on major temporary or scaled-down venues.”  That includes the Olympic Stadium, which would be a temporary, 80,000-seat structure.

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No clear frontrunner in 2016 Games race: IOC

BERLIN (Reuters) – The four bid cities competing to host the 2016 summer Olympics are locked in a tight race with no clear frontrunner emerging from the International Olympic Committee’s evaluation report released on Wednesday.

Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, Chicago and Madrid are bidding to win the nod to host the 2016 Games. The IOC will elect the winning bid on October 2 at their session in Copenhagen.

The IOC’s 13-member evaluation commission conducted on-site inspections in April and May and its report is the final document regarding the bids before the IOC session elects the winner next month.

The IOC said in its 98-page report that all four cities had put in bids of high quality.

Chicago, aiming to be the first U.S. city to host the Games since Atlanta in 1996, scored points with its compact plan, with most venues within 8km from the city center, which will require “minimum travel times for athletes and other client groups,” according to the report. Its centrally-located lakefront Olympic village was also a winner.

Transport however, especially the need to double peak commuter traffic for the rail system during Games time, was seen as a challenge, as was failure to “provide a full guarantee covering a potential shortfall of the organizing committee, as requested by the IOC.”

The IOC said Chicago’s Games budget was “ambitious but achievable” and would require an “extensive sponsorship program” to generate more than $1.8 billion toward the “significant expenditure budget.”

SOUTH AMERICAN FIRST

Rio’s bid to become the first South American city to host the Olympics scored well with its wider regeneration plan supporting the Games preparation

Its shortage of necessary hotel rooms and the use of cruise ships was a challenge as was security, the IOC said, adding that hosting the 2014 soccer World Cup would accelerate infrastructure delivery but could also challenge marketing strategies ahead of 2016.

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IOC Releases Evaluation Commission Report

Read the report:  http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_1469.pdf

No surprises expected from IOC evaluation report on 2016 bid cities

It’s likely to say all 4 — including Chicago — are capable of meeting IOC’s standards

By Philip Hersh

The document to be released Wednesday morning on the Internet will run to some 100 pages.

But don’t expect it to say much more about the four finalists for the 2016 Summer Olympics than isn’t already known.

In fact, the report of the International Olympic Committee evaluation commission that made weeklong visits to Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro last spring may even have been rendered less relevant by an event that followed.

You have to wonder why the IOC bothered to require that the commission’s 13 members sign confidentiality agreements about a report that almost certainly has concluded all four cities are capable of staging a Summer Olympics up to the IOC’s standards.

The report was written before the June meeting in Lausanne in which 93 of the 107 IOC members came to a closed-door session during which each city presented the essence of its bid and took questions from the members.

That meeting was a groundbreaker, giving the IOC membership a chance to hear first-hand about bids prior to the open presentations on the day of the vote. It also gave the bid cities plenty of the schmoozing opportunities critical in winning support from the IOC voters who will choose the 2016 host Oct. 2 in Copenhagen.

As far as Chicago’s bid is concerned, that meeting took on extra significance when Mayor Richard M. Daley revealed exclusively to me that he had told the IOC members Chicago was prepared to sign the host city contract. That assured the city would be the final backstop for all Olympic costs, a pre-condition to being selected the host.

The Lausanne meeting means few of the members will need the evaluation commission report as more than a refresher about what they heard seven weeks ago. Most will be inclined to read just the summary of each city’s report on the 17 areas the IOC evaluated.

The polling about public support contained in the report also seems of questionable significance, since it was done in February.

Over the nine bid campaigns, beginning with the one for the 2000 Summer Games, since the IOC began publishing evaluations of the cities, the reports have become increasingly anodyne.

The first evaluation commission reports gave the cities numerical ratings. Those soon were abandoned, making it necessary to read between the lines to find any differences.

For instance: the report on 2012 noted the evaluation commission was unable to evaluate Moscow’s utterly untenable bid because of a “lack of detailed planning in the candidature file and background information.”

The 2012 report summed up what became a fatal flaw in New York’s bid, the eventual state board rejection of its West Side stadium plan, by saying, “Technical and approval processes for the Olympic stadium and the IBC (international broadcast center), sites essential to the hosting of the Games, were still in progress at the time of the commission’s visits and no guarantees were provided that these sites would be available for the construction of Olympic infrastructure.”

In the case of Chicago, one place to look will be the financial evaluation, since it seems likely the report will call the Chicago bid’s revenue projections rather optimistic.

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