Olympics in Africa: “Not for another 20 years” 29/07/2010 |
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Nawal El Moutawakel, head of the International Olympic Committee's co-ordinating commission for Rio 2016, doubts Africa will be ready to host the Olympic Games for at least another 20 years despite the success of the first football World Cup on the continent this summer.
The praise South Africa has received for staging the event has led to officials in the country announcing a possible bid for the 2020 Olympics.
But El Moutawakel, who also chaired the co-ordinating commission for London 2012, said: “There is a huge amount of work to be done besides political desire, hence the experts' view that any realistic chance for [hosting the] Olympics in Africa is between 2030 and 2040.
"I have read studies by some universities specialising in the Olympics who gave Africa between 2030 and 2040 to host the Games and that is a very realistic chance because the Olympics is a different ball game.
"I know South Africa did a wonderful job with the Fifa World Cup, right from the airport, going into Johannesburg and the suburbs in wide, smooth roads, to world-class hotels and wonderful facilities in all cities.
"But the soccer World Cup is one sport in nine cities, with 64 matches played by 32 countries in one month. The Olympics is 26 sports in one city played by 10,500 athletes in three weeks and watched by billions around the world.
“Let us face it – Africa has many unique problems and other priorities to handle at the moment. So I think those studies are not off the mark.”
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