Durban shortlisted for IOC meeting
16 April 2008
Durban and Hong Kong are the shortlisted bidders to host the 123rd session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2011, an event that traditionally draws thousands of visitors to the host city.
eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality (greater Durban) City Manager Michael Sutcliffe voiced his pleasure with the city's selection, and thanked the support they had received from the Department of Sport and Recreation, as well as the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc).
"Our bid forms part of Durban's 2010 and Beyond Strategy which focuses on developing Durban as Africa's premier sporting and events destination," said Sutcliffe, adding that the city's bid was put together under guidance of IOC executive board member Sam Ramsamy, who has been widely involved in sports administration in South Africa.
Sutcliffe said the city would do its best to ensure that when the IOC session convened in Beijing in early August, delegates would select Durban as the host city for the 123rd session of the IOC.
Durban has favourable regional climatic conditions, geographical features, excellent infrastructure and, most importantly, well located sporting infrastructure.
Currently, the city has the potential to host the 42 main Olympic sporting codes in a single precinct within easy access to the city centre, beaches and accommodation, while the Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre and Arena has a consistent ranking as a top 10 facility in the world.
Over the past few years, the city has hosted a number of large congresses and events including the Non-Aligned Movement, Commonwealth Heads of Government, a UN Aids conference, UN racism conference and the launch of the African Union.
The city also successfully hosted the 2010 Fifa World Cup preliminary draw in November 2007.
"Our rich sporting and eventing heritage will undoubtedly stand us in good stead as we make the final push to bring the conference to our city," said Sutcliffe. "If successful, this will be wonderful for not just our city of Durban, but for South Africa and Africa as it will bring the most powerful team administering sport in the world to our shores as they deliberate on their business."
According to this week's Sunday Tribune, the IOC meeting for which Durban is vying will decide on who hosts the 2018 Winter Olympics, meaning that visitors will include not only IOC delegates and media, but representatives from about five countries wanting to host the games.
SAinfo reporter and BuaNews
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