AGENDA 2020: Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are gathering in Monaco to vote on a bold new plan for the future called Olympic Agenda 2020.
The reforms, 40 of them, are being put forward by the IOC President, Thomas Bach, to keep the Olympic movement relevant and fresh and to maintain its dominance on the global stage.
Under Bach, a gold medallist for Germany in fencing at the 1976 Games, the Olympics needs to change with the times.
The IOC Executive Board, led by Bach and which includes AOC President, and IOC VP, John Coates, has drafted the changes. A vision for the future, they now must sell them to the membership.
They need to convince the membership to be more flexible when it comes to choosing events for the Olympic program. Moving forward, will they accept skateboarding, surfing and rock climbing and bring back softball, baseball as well as give squash the nod?
There is a push for mixed gender events especially in swimming and synchronised swimming. Boys and girls competed together at the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games (YOG). They also gave 3 on 3 basketball a run.
Many of the IOC members are steeped in tradition, such change will be challenging.
It’s not just about sport, the IOC administration is also facing an overhaul. In recent times staging the Games has become too expensive. China spent $45B US on the Beijing Games in 2008 and Russia reportedly invested $50B US on this year’s Sochi Winter Games. Other cities can’t match an investment of that size and countries have withdrawn from the 2022 bidding process because the costs are too high.
Likewise, cities are baulking because the cost of bidding is way over the top. The average bid costs $50M US and cities are expected to keep bidding if they miss out. Multiple bidders may spend $200M US with no guarantee they will be successful and win the prize.
Agenda 2020 has to find a way where smaller nations like Norway, Poland and Austria can host the Winter Olympics. And by reducing the costs cities like Paris can be swayed to launch another bid after missing out on the Summer Games several times in recent years.
Then there is a proposal for an Olympic television channel on a global scale. A plan sure to win over the sports who are craving television coverage for their events.
Such a channel hopefully with provide sports like rowing, hockey and cycling LIVE coverage of their major events while at the same time educating viewers on the rich history of the Olympics.
With all the talk of change the priorities for the IOC remain the fight against doping and illegal betting. They remain at the top of the agenda.
Mike Tancred
AOC Media Director at Agenda 20/20
