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Lula Says Ioc Must Give Rio The Olympics


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That's not exclusive to Brazilians. I live in France - pretty good Olympic power - and, last year, Euro 2008 got more coverage than the SOG. And France is not the most football crazy nation in Europe. On the contrary, Italy, Spain, UK, Germany and others are even more "football countries".

In many countries, the WC gets 100% coverage with all matches being broadcast in network TV, regardless of the countries playing. On the other hand, the Olympics typically have only the most prospective events broadcast. By the way, the cable channels in Brazil show much more events in the SOG than their counterparts in France.

yeh

the games have a lot of **** "sports" that 90% of the people only watch because its considered an olympic sport.

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Man, I can't imagine people in poor countries in Africa, Asia, South America joining a group in front of TV to watch gymnastics, canoe/kayak or even a volleyball in SOG...

But any soccer/football match in a World Cup got easily a billion audience...

There is a frech documentary about it. Showing how the world (except USA) stopped in front of TV during the final match of World Cup 2002.

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Re: Ceremonies and cauldron in Maracana.

If I were an IOC member, the idea of having my Ceremonies in iconic Maracana instead of in ugly Havelange would sound so much more enticing. It would go a long way in brining home the theme of Rio's bid of bringing the excitement of the Games to the South American continent and bringing the South American vibrancy to the Games. That's really the message behind the "South America has never hosted" argument.

The cauldron placement could really become a non-issue for the IOC, if it isn't already. For 2012, "ideas have come forward [in London] to possibly 're-invent' the notion of the torch itself with the IOC onboard." So it seems to me that for Rio 2016, there really would be no reason to move the flame to Havalagne after the Ceremonies, or have two flames like Vancouver may have, or any other variation. I would personally rather see the flame above the Athletics competition, so I do hope plans are made for that to happen. For what's it worth, I remember someone posting here that such plans would be in place if Rio won.

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Wow, I'm amazed by some of the responses here.

Basically, what I'm hearing is that, yes, Brazil is football crazy. The World Cup is FAR, FAR more important to Brazil than the Olympic Games. This has been confirmed by multiple Brazilian posts.

As near as I can tell, the argument for the Olympics is, "After you give us the Games, maybe we'll take more of an interest in them." The key word here is maybe. It sounds like it is a foregone conclusion that Olympics in Rio would be an anti-climactic "dessert" following the 2014 World Cup.

As one of you said, if the IOC doesn't want this, they shouldn't give the Games to Rio. Why not send the Games to a country that actually regards the Olympics as the pinnacle of sporting achievement?

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Wow, I'm amazed by some of the responses here.

Basically, what I'm hearing is that, yes, Brazil is football crazy. The World Cup is FAR, FAR more important to Brazil than the Olympic Games. This has been confirmed by multiple Brazilian posts.

As near as I can tell, the argument for the Olympics is, "After you give us the Games, maybe we'll take more of an interest in them." The key word here is maybe. It sounds like it is a foregone conclusion that Olympics in Rio would be an anti-climactic "dessert" following the 2014 World Cup.

As one of you said, if the IOC doesn't want this, they shouldn't give the Games to Rio. Why not send the Games to a country that actually regards the Olympics as the pinnacle of sporting achievement?

It's a little difficult for an American to conceive: That the World Cup -- a competition of one sport between teams of only men at different times in different cities in existing stadiums and more in competition than in brotherhood -- is valued more than the Olympics - where dozens of sports with men and women - come together to compete but also in friendship. We have plenty of single sports competitions in the U.S. - and have basically a Domestic World Cup of Basketball every March (NCAA Basketball) but we still find the Summer Olympics compelling every four years.

And it would seem relatively straightforward to track scores and who wins, who loses, send the press and the fans to a different stadium for a match every few days, put the teams on planes, trains, and buses, reserve enough hotel rooms in the host cities, and make sure that each stadium has the proper equipment and officials. Unlike the Olympics which is a different thousand moving pieces every day and everyone moving in a different direction to do something completely different.

CHItown '16

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South America and Africa, for sure World Cup have much bigger audiences than Olympic Games.

I've read once that World Cup final match is the most watched television event... I don't know if this is true... But I remember to have read that and it was in English.

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Wow, I'm amazed by some of the responses here.

Basically, what I'm hearing is that, yes, Brazil is football crazy. The World Cup is FAR, FAR more important to Brazil than the Olympic Games. This has been confirmed by multiple Brazilian posts.

I wouldn't say "FAR FAR". But its more important to brazil and a lot of other countries included.

As near as I can tell, the argument for the Olympics is, "After you give us the Games, maybe we'll take more of an interest in them." The key word here is maybe. It sounds like it is a foregone conclusion that Olympics in Rio would be an anti-climactic "dessert" following the 2014 World Cup.

Nah...

Thats just you being a typical GB fanatic (90% are) that use everything they can get and twist it to max in order to create an argument on "why 'my city' needs to host the games" or "why the other city sucks." Mostly its the second argument. 90% of the discussions here are about "why the other city cannot host the SOG."

As one of you said, if the IOC doesn't want this, they shouldn't give the Games to Rio. Why not send the Games to a country that actually regards the Olympics as the pinnacle of sporting achievement?

Thats a good question. But every country regards the Olympic as the pinnacle of sporting achievement. Football is just the most popular sport IN THE WORLD thus its more interesting for the majority of Football's fans.

List of the top5 most popular sports in the world:

#1 Football (olympic competition means nothing) #2 Cricket (Non-olympic sport) #3 Basketball (the only one) #4 Baseball (soon to be a non-Olympic sport - also it don't have pros competing) #5 Rugby (non-olympic sport).

+

The most popular sport in the most powerful country in the world isn't an Olympic sport either. (American Football)

So yeh, as you can notice a lot of people in the world can't see their favorite sport in the Olympics. But lets forget it and say that the dancing in the water in a bikini or the dancing with a ball/other objects is far more important and exciting than a NFL game for Americans / a football game for the most of the world / a cricket game for the asians / a rugby game for a lot of countries in the world / etc. :rolleyes:

Olympics is such a big deal in the US! The average joe would trade a playoff games for a good game of Badminton anyday. Yeh... Sure. Thats why all the TV Stations in the US are at a bid war for the right to broadcast the SOG and nbc makes hundreds of millions in profit every 4 years.. :rolleyes:

/irony

So yeh, the brazilians want the olympics to be hosted here and I could tell you that its far more exciting now and aa lot more people are interested in the IOC decision compared to when FIFA officially told we would host the WC.

I could bet we gonna see far more people in the streets of RIO celebrating if rio wins the bid compared to the FIFA announcement. So no, Rio16 wont be "an anti-climactic "dessert" following the 2014 World Cup".

Far from it.

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Why not send the Games to a country that actually regards the Olympics as the pinnacle of sporting achievement?

By that logic, South America and many countries around the world will never host the Games.

It's not like the Games are in a rut in terms of reputation in South America, but the best way to increase excitement for the Olympic Movement is by hosting. It's unrealistic to expect Brazil to begin regarding the Olympic Games over the World Cup without doing anything about it. Hosting creates buzz, participation, viewership, and increased excitement - the pathway to regarding the Games the “pinnacle of sporting achievement.”

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By that logic, South America and many countries around the world will never host the Games.

It's not like the Games are in a rut in terms of reputation in South America, but the best way to increase excitement for the Olympic Movement is by hosting. It's unrealistic to expect Brazil to begin regarding the Olympic Games over the World Cup without doing anything about it. Hosting creates buzz, participation, viewership, and increased excitement - the pathway to regarding the Games the “pinnacle of sporting achievement.”

Valid points, NY. However, there are two big problems:

1.) Lula's comments suggest that Brazil cares far more about being considered "an international player" than about the Olympic Movement. It seems pretty clear that Lula would like to use the Olympics to gain economic power and leverage in global politics. The focus is not on sport or an international fraternity of athletes.

2.) By staging the Olympics only two years after the World Cup, Brazil is running the risk of diluting enthusiasm for the Games. It will be very easy to make comparisons between the two events. The reverse is true in the United States. The energy-level surrounding the World Cup is nothing in comparison to the energy level surrounding the Olympic Games.

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