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Istanbul 2020


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Taking the Games to a primarily Muslim, secular nation would serve 'no political agenda' to the IOC... Okay.

Granted, 2020 seems highly unlikely, but within the next 20 years or so, I don't see it being far-fetched at all. Surely at some point, the IOC is going to want to cross that bridge (since you know, the IOC is indeed a 'global business'), & I don't see them doing it with any other Muslim nation other than Turkey.

Of course the Turks have to at least come up with a better plan than what they've presented in the past.

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Taking the Games to a primarily Muslim, secular nation would serve 'no political agenda' to the IOC... Okay.

Granted, 2020 seems highly unlikely, but within the next 20 years or so, I don't see it being far-fetched at all. Surely at some point, the IOC is going to want to cross that bridge (since you know, the IOC is indeed a 'global business'), & I don't see them doing it with any other Muslim nation other than Turkey.

Of course the Turks have to at least come up with a better plan than what they've presented in the past.

i think in 2020 candidature Istanbul and Turkey like to show that they are ready and can host the games and they gonna get it in 2024.

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All very nice...attractive pictures, stellar fixtures etc etc...

But who in the IOC membership, or more specifically in the higher echelon wants an Istanbul SOGs? In all honesty I suspect no one does outside 3 or 4 members such as those like Ugur Erdener (sole Turkish IOC member), Al Sabah from Kuwait and maybe Prince Hussein in Jordan.

Istanbul is a potentially solid bid but it serves no political or individual agenda within the broader IOC membership.

I understand eusebius' point. Still, I wonder if it is really totally insurmountable. Although eus seems to disagree with me on this, I do think the IOC cares about maintaining a global identity. The Games have never been held in a Muslim nation. Despite Turkey's religious diversity, there is a strong Muslim presence. Istanbul has a very different character from any previous Olympic host and this would be appealing as well. The biggest problems, I suspect, would center around security and commercial potential.

The reason that eusebius' point has merit is that the playing field is not level and bids are not judged solely on their own merits. If Rome has its champions and Tokyo has its supporters, who's going to line up behind Istanbul? It's a fair question. For Istanbul to have any chance it needs not only a strong technical bid, but very charismatic leadership and a crystal-clear vision of what would make an Istanbul Olympics meaningful. Otherwise they shouldn't expect to get any further than the short list.

Personally, I think the idea of Turkish Olympics would be very interesting, provided that they're technically competent transport, accommodation, village, etc. Those would be Olympics I'd be interested in attending because they would be DIFFERENT. Still, it's going to be an uphill climb.

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I guess Istanbul will be the city that will have bid the most times in a very short time gap: Istanbul 2000, Istanbul 2004, Istanbul 2008, Istanbul 2012, Istanbul 2020, Istanbul 2024 (if they don't get 2020)... Always with the same logo and shortlisted every two tries (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) so they could make it for 2020 ;)

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Actually, that 'honor' goes to Detroit - 6 consecutive bids in 20 years for the Games of 1952-1972.

And for 2000 there was no short-list process. That current procedure was introduced for the 2002 Games (& wasn't practiced for the 2006 Games).

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And for 2000 there was no short-list process.

;) I didn't know that. That explains why Istanbul was in the voting for 2000 and wasn't for 2004. However, it was shortlisted for 2008 and wasn't for 2012... It's a city of ups and downs in terms of Olympic bids, anyway. And if Detroit holds that "record" for having bid many times, then Istanbul must be the runner-up, and if things continue this way, PyeongChang and Madrid could join them soon :rolleyes: ...I hope not.

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Maybe if Istanbul changed its name back to Constantinople and packaged itself as a Christian bid, they might get more votes!! ;)

Actually Istanbul has no chance as long as the Byzantine stench around Theodosius Maximus (a Constantinople based emperor) hangs around re his ending of the ancient games in 391AD.

I tells ya the IOC has long memories....

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Maybe if Istanbul changed its name back to Constantinople and packaged itself as a Christian bid, they might get more votes!! ;)

ahahahha definetly

if turkey is a christian country its already a member of EU from 60s too:) also win several eurovision song contests too.. ahahha :)

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  • 2 months later...
Turkey ready to host 2020 Olympics, says senior government official

TURKEY is ready to host the Olympics according to a senior government official who admitted a bid for the 2020 Games was likely.

Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, was conspicuous by its absence in the 2016 Olympic bidding process, having applied to host the three previous Summer Games.

The closest it came was for the 2008 Games which saw Istanbul eliminated second from the five candidate cities at the International Olympic Committee Session in Moscow in 2001.

Awarding major competitions to emerging nations is the latest fashion in the sports administrative corridors of power and the so-called BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - all of which are deemed be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development, have all recently received their slice of the pie.

Brazil will host the 2014 FIFA World Cup while Rio will stage the 2016 Olympics; Russia will play host to Sochi 2014 and could well be awarded the 2018 FIFA World Cup; Delhi recently staged the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the last Summer Olympics was in Beijing.

It's a growing trend among FIFA and the IOC and it's not just borne out of idealistic views of universalism - emerging nations are commercial cash cows compared to the somewhat saturated markets in the west.

While booming cities are no longer flavour of the month however - Chicago's humiliating 2016 defeat is a case in point - emerging nations may offer reward, but they also offer risk, look no further than Delhi 2010.

And if a Turkish city does bid for the 2020 Games it would almost certainly be Istanbul, and state minister for youth and sport Faruk Nafiz Ozak, a former football player and chairman of Trabzonspor, insists the fifth largest city in the world should no longer be an also-ran.

"Turkey is ready to host the Olympic Games," said Ozak, speaking at the Global Sports Industry Congress in London.

"In the last eight years there has been a lot of development and we have experienced an increase in our National Gross Income.

"The government wants to host the Games and we would spend a lot of money on it.

"But it's not just about money. We have developed our transport, we have good accommodation and good hotels.

"We see sport as investment for the future and we have a responsibility to create the environment for people to do sport [from ages] seven to 70."

Turkey's success in hosting the Olympics would no doubt be affected by whether the country is formally accepted into the European Union - something the United Kingdom vociferously supports.

It opened accession negotiations with the EU in 2005 but is unlikely to join any time soon, partly because of opposition from countries such as France.

And Turkey's refusal to recognise EU member Cyprus, growing support for pro-Islamic parties on the mainland and the treatment of the Kurdish minority in the country all remain potential stumbling blocks.

Nonetheless, the number of major sporting events to be held in Turkey is growing.

This year's World Basketball Championships were held there and attracted a global audience of 1bn while the WTA Championships will be held in Istanbul next year at a cost of £300m.

And the eastern city of Erzurum will hold the 2011 Winter Universiade ...

Full Story - More Than The Games

So it looks like Istanbul will be back in this time. Hope they change their bid logo finally!

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So it looks like Istanbul will be back in this time. Hope they change their bid logo finally!

Frankly any story that associates EU membership with the possibility of hosting a SOGs in Istanbul is not even worth the bytes its transmitted on (just as the refusal to recognise Cyprus or the Kurdish question are not stumbling blocks). Turkey, Istanbul's bid team and their associated NOC and IOC member must simply create an irresistible lobbying force that brings on board the powerbrokers of the IOC. They've not been able to do it so far and they have a snow ball's chance in hell of doing it for 2020.

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Turkey, Istanbul's bid team and their associated NOC and IOC member must simply create an irresistible lobbying force that brings on board the powerbrokers of the IOC. They've not been able to do it so far and they have a snow ball's chance in hell of doing it for 2020.

Well, yaknow...at the Women's Volleyball World Championships going on in Japan this very minute, Turkey's gals (I think ranked #17) finished off the Chinese women (ranked #3 in the world) without the use of burqas!! That is no small accomplishment for emerging Turkey!!

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Well, yaknow...at the Women's Volleyball World Championships going on in Japan this very minute, Turkey's gals (I think ranked #17) finished off the Chinese women (ranked #3 in the world) without the use of burqas!! That is no small accomplishment for emerging Turkey!!

All well and good Baron but you and I both know that unless Turkey have someone willing to be front and centre at the 'currying favour' line up alongside the likes of Pescante, Rana, Ramsamy, Bach, Coates and El Moutawakel to name but a few then the Asia Minor surge to a SOGs will peter out like a pebble dropped in the Bosphorus. Ugur Erdener is a no name and has about as much presence on the IOC as Francisco Elizalde (who??? :P )

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Ugur Erdener is a no name and has about as much presence on the IOC as Francisco Elizalde (who??? :P )

To be fair, I think you also have to be an ambitious IOC member to want to be a charismatic one who will weigh in on your colleagues to vote for your candidate. Obviously, a candidate from a smaller country--not unless you are Grace Kelly's son--really doesn't wield the same charismatic glow to lead a favorite-son-city charge as the Pescantes or Nuzmans or Moutakwels...who already smell the scent of blood from their influential sub-positions. For every pre-meditated move to "shine" and sort-of push your agenda, you also get an equal, opposite backlash from someone in there who does not like you. It's like any corporate, "SURVIVOR"-type grouping. There are sharks...and there are sharks.

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To be fair, I think you also have to be an ambitious IOC member to want to be a charismatic one who will weigh in on your colleagues to vote for your candidate. Obviously, a candidate from a smaller country--not unless you are Grace Kelly's son--really doesn't wield the same charismatic glow to lead a favorite-son-city charge as the Pescantes or Nuzmans or Moutakwels...who already smell the scent of blood from their influential sub-positions. For every pre-meditated move to "shine" and sort-of push your agenda, you also get an equal, opposite backlash from someone in there who does not like you. It's like any corporate, "SURVIVOR"-type grouping. There are sharks...and there are sharks.

Salient points me old china, which then gives rise to the thought of their needing to be a bloc of similarly interested folk circling the Turks, not just one or two big knobs (or one or two idealists). Question is, has any confirmed or speculative bid for 2020 started to give an indication of such a bloc? Or to continue the fish analogy, anyone formed up in a school or are they all bottom feeders :P :P

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All the lobbying in the world won't mean very much if Istanbul do not work on its bid plan.

It has yet to present a plan the IOC is convinced will be successful or believes is feasible. They were lucky with 2008

Mo, the bid plan (which I assume we would consider to be the technical aspects of the bid) is the easy part and can be cobbled together frankly by any city (as demonstrated by the likes of Havana, Bangkok, Lille, Leipzig and of course Istanbul). However before even starting the process of developing a bid plan any group developing a candidature for an Olympic bid has to be aware of the dynamics and importance of IOC membership blocs and how to maximise the effectiveness of their lobbying to that august group.

To be honest the mechanics of a bid and its technical excellence will always play second fiddle to the sheer political skill demonstrated by the leading members of a bid committee in concert with partisan and powerful groupings of IOC members. That's why anyone looking to Istanbul bringing home the 2020 gold have no hope, no matter how good or bad their city's infrastructure is nor the financial backing nor the sporting prowess of Turks. As demonstrated time and time again it's not what you know at the IOC, it's who you know.

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It can be cobbled together but without a rethink it remains the first obstacle to Istanbul. The IOC clearly closed the door when they realized promises from the 2008 bid were highly optimistic during the 2012 bid phase.

A sound bid plan has been anything but easy for Istanbul.

That said, the second obstacle remains that Istanbul is in Turkey.

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