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Durban 2024/28?


baron-pierreIV

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I think Durban 2024 might NOT happen.

It's not ruled out yet:

Mbalula wants Olympics 2024 in SA

South Africa is ready to host the Olympic Games and the country should bid for the 2024 edition, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Monday.

Mbalula, who was speaking at the arrival of the Queen's Baton in South Africa as part of the relay ahead of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, echoed what President Jacob Zuma last year told reporters at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.

"We don't want to bid for the Commonwealth Games, we want the Olympics here in South Africa," Mbalula said after arriving late for the press briefing at OR Tambo international airport. "If the Commonwealth comes first that would be great, but our biggest fish to catch is 2024 [Olympic Games].

"I can say, without a shadow of doubt, it would be realisable if we work together because we do it for the future of our young people.

"It is the time now to bid for bigger things, Olympics is about life."

South Africa was seen as a strong candidate to host the showpiece in 2020 but Cabinet announced earlier that year it would not support the bid as the country had more important priorities. The bidding process for the 2024 Olympics begins in 2015 and the International Olympic Committee will announce the winner in 2017.

Chances

The country's chances to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games has, however, been gaining steam particularly since it has been earmarked for an African country.

In a boost to South Africa's chances of a successful bid, the Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president Gideon Sam was elected as one of two Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) vice-presidents in 2011.

"We are asking the Africans to put up their hands, but when you survey the possible countries only Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya or South Africa can bid," Sam said, wearing his CGF hat.

"By March, any of those four have to indicate before we meet for the general assembly in Auckland in 2015.

"My bias of course is that our athletes in South Africa have honoured this country by remaining in the top five in the Commonwealth."

Sam said South Africa may even bid for both the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics if there was an appetite to host both events. It was, however, doubtful the country would be tasked with organising both events which fell only two years apart. – Sapa

Mail & Guardian

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Mandla%2BMaseko%2B(1).jpg

Mandla Maseko, the first black African astronaut to do a space gig.

I just know it. This guy (and a white South African female athlete) will light 2024! Even though Sam Ramsamy is gone from the Executive Board, I think Prince ALbert will be carrying the South African "torch" within the IOC inner sanctum.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Seems a bit more equivocal now:


SA still has sights set on 2024 Olympics, says Mbalula
25 FEBRUARY 2014: SPORT and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula confirmed on Tuesday that South Africa still wants to be the first African country to host the Olympics — but only when the time is right.

Answering questions at a press briefing of the governance and administration cluster of ministers, Mr Mbalula pointed to the situation in Brazil as an example of wrong timing. He said Brazilians were protesting because their government was spending billions on new stadiums for this year’s Soccer World Cup while unemployment was rising.

When South Africa did not bid in recent years for the Olympics, it was because of the effects of the global recession, he said.

Earlier this month, Mr Mbalula said South Africa would bid for the 2024 Olympics and the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

At a press conference at OR Tambo International Airport, he said: "If the Commonwealth comes first, that’s fine. The biggest fish to catch is 2024 (the Olympics)."

Mr Mbalula said at the time that President Jacob Zuma had already indicated that South Africa was ready to host the Games.

On Tuesday, he said more needed to be done after events such as the rugby, cricket and soccer world cups to ensure that South Africa’s poor also benefited.

Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor told Tuesday’s briefing: "We have successfully hosted rugby, cricket and soccer world cups. Through the hosting of these major events, we have successfully profiled the country’s abilities to host and manage major events.

"The economic spin-offs of these events, mainly with the 2010 Fifa World Cup, have (included) the reconstruction of stadiums and stretched into tangibles like road construction, airports construction, social cohesion, national pride and to being part of the African family peace caravan for the youth of the continent."

Ms Pandor added: "We are proud that our resources have truly represented us with lessons learnt from the hosting of these major events, by assisting other countries like Brazil in hosting the 2014 Fifa World Cup. We assisted Mozambique in hosting the All Africa Games, in terms of material and human resources. We helped Mali in hosting the African Nations Cup. Recently, in solidarity with the people of Libya, we hosted the 2013 and 2014 Afcon and Chan tournaments."

BDLive

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There is still a lot of time before the IOC vote. We've seen quite a slew of recent would-be bidders change their minds. SA's plans for 2024 could get stronger or weaker from this point onward. It's difficult to know which way the wind will blow.

They should consult with you on your New York prognostications. :lol:

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Sure fooled us...or the absence of it.

Ok...... ingrammatical non-sequitur, but whatever.

I never predicted NYC would bid for 2024. I just said they shouldn't be said to have rejected the idea of bidding until there was some evidence to substantiate that viewpoint. Now there is.

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I'm not convinced Durban is big enough, nor South Africa rich enough, to host the Olympics.

"It's never been in Africa" is not a good enough reason to put it there.

its never been in south america was good enough for rio, and it had the worst technical bid in 2016

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I'm not convinced Durban is big enough, nor South Africa rich enough, to host the Olympics.

The "not-rich enough" reason isn't all that convincing either.

Just look at the share these last 9 Olympic host cities have gotten from the NBC pie alone:

Athens 2004 - $793 mil

Torino 2006 - $613 mil

Beijiing 2008 - $894 mil

Vancouver 2010 - $820 mil

London 2012 - $1.18 billion

Sochi 2014 - $775 million

Rio 2016 - projected at $1.226 billion

PC 2018 - $963 million

Tokyo 2020 - $1.418 billion

So, you can see by the time 2024 rolls around, if it is Durban's time, they will at least get a guaranteed $1.6 billion from the US TV pot alone. Probably add another $300 mil from the other worldwide TV sales; so that's $1.9 billion gravy. coming in from abroad and not having to be raised locally by the Org Committee. And the IOC is frightfully aware that the RSA is going out on a limb here, so the cash rich IOC might even up their contribution to the Durban budget to over $2 billion. I think that immediately demolishes the "not-rich-enough" argument.

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The "not-rich enough" reason isn't all that convincing either.

Just look at the share these last 9 Olympic host cities have gotten from the NBC pie alone:

Athens 2004 - $793 mil

Torino 2006 - $613 mil

Beijiing 2008 - $894 mil

Vancouver 2010 - $820 mil

London 2012 - $1.18 billion

Sochi 2014 - $775 million

Rio 2016 - projected at $1.226 billion

PC 2018 - $963 million

Tokyo 2020 - $1.418 billion

So, you can see by the time 2024 rolls around, if it is Durban's time, they will at least get a guaranteed $1.6 billion from the US TV pot alone. Probably add another $300 mil from the other worldwide TV sales; so that's $1.9 billion gravy. coming in from abroad and not having to be raised locally by the Org Committee. And the IOC is frightfully aware that the RSA is going out on a limb here, so the cash rich IOC might even up their contribution to the Durban budget to over $2 billion. I think that immediately demolishes the "not-rich-enough" argument.

No doubt 2 billion plus is a huge amount if cash, but Athens cost 14 billion in 2004. It seems probable Durban would need to spend at least a similar amount by the time 2024 rolls around. I'm not saying they can't find the cash, but it's going to be a challenge.

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Brazil's economy is something like 6-7x that of RSA. Rio is a massive city with a vastly greater infrastructure than Durban. They aren't close to being in the same league.

Riiiiight. So says the one that puny Andorra could host a 21st century Winter Olympics, which would cost at least twice their economy. Yeah, talk about not even being in the same league. :-/

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Riiiiight. So says the one that puny Andorra could host a 21st century Winter Olympics, which would cost at least twice their economy. Yeah, talk about not even being in the same league. :-/

Wait, did he said that? Now, the lunatic prediction of Detroit sounds too shaby with that.

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Some people have trouble understanding that different threads have different levels of seriousness. Or the difference between discussing what cities theoretically could host and discussing which cities realistically might host.

This. It's like you make 1 comment about a city and you're branded for life. What is this, middle school?

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It's been more than just "one" comment throughout the last couple of years, though. Like "joint" bids. Or why not "country" bids (let's spread the joy around, why don't we). Or "theoretical" Andorra, & even theoretically, it's still absurd. Or at one point, he even advocated the likes of fricken Tulsa! That's right, TULSA "could" host (your favorite word there)! Yet he frowns upon places like South Africa & what such an Olympics would mean to the IOC. Why take someone like that "seriously".

He keeps calling the IOC a bunch of "corrupt weasels" yet he's so enthralled with them at the same time. Go figure. But yeah, it must be middle school, bcuz why are you so on LUV with him, Q?! Seems so strange! Athensfan, you made a grave error when you dubbed Quaker & I as the "bobbsey twins", cuz clearly it's Q&Z here! :-P

Some people have trouble understanding that different threads have different levels of seriousness. Or the difference between discussing what cities theoretically could host and discussing which cities realistically might host.

Too bad you have trouble seriously understanding *every* thread, though.

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FYI -

I don't keep a log of my posts. Since you seem to have one, could you send it to me? Some of those old posts were fun and I'd like to remember them. The one about using cruise ships to house visitors for a Tulsa games... that was an amusing thread (sorry if you didn't enjoy it.)

And if the dumbest thing I've ever posted is that joint bids could work.....

'

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