IOC wants to cut dead wood from 2026 Games bids

LAUSANNE: The International Olympic Committee said on Friday it wants to further streamline the bidding procedure for Summer and Winter Games, ensuring only the most viable cities - ideally two - reach the final voting stage.

Following a two-day meeting of the Executive Board, IOC President Thomas Bach also said that weightlifting and boxing could still be kicked out of future Games and that there was probably a long way still to go before esports would be part of the Olympics.

He also confirmed that the swimming finals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are likely to be held in the morning, to suit US audiences.The IOC has long-recognised that bloated bidding processes and hosting regimes need to be consigned to history and has carried out “dry runs” for minor events where only two are left in the final vote.

Next on the horizon is the 2026 Winter Olympics, currently in the “dialogue phase”, with five interested ci­ties - Calgary Canada, Sapporo Japan, Stockholm, Erzurum Turkey and a yet-to-be determined Italian venue.

“We need a procedure that is producing fewer losers, so at the end you have a limited number of candidates, and ideally this happens after co-operation with the candidate cities,” Bach told a news conference.

“We want a limited number, all in line with our reforms of making the process less expensive. We don’t want cities making investments when we don’t think they can win.”Turning to the Summer Games, Bach said that weightlifting’s place at Paris 2024 “remains provisional” after years of doping issues.

Concerns about governance in boxing prompted Bach to say: “we reserve the right to not include boxing in 2028.”Returning to Tokyo 2020, Bach said that swimming’s governing body FINA was happy to have the race finals in the morning local time to give the sport “the best possible exposure in the most successful country of swimming (the US).”Bach also announced nine new proposed IOC members.