IOC president promises overhaul of Olympic bidding process
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach is promising to overall the Olympic host city bidding process, according to The Guardian.
Bach is proposing a reform that will be voted on in December that he says would make the process cheaper, create more cooperation with bidders and turn the process into more of an invitation or discussion rather than an application.
"We want to make an effort to reduce the cost of bidding and make it even clearer to bidding cities what from the point of view of the IOC is requested and what may be their own initiative on top of that," said Bach.
• Norway, IOC to meet to discuss failed 2022 Winter Olympics bid
There are just two bidders remaining for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing and Almaty (in Kazakhstan), after Oslo recently pulled out. Oslo was the fourth withdrawal from the 2022 bidding process, sparking media criticism over the way the IOC is handling bids.
The United States is expected to bid for the 2024 Summer Games, and Germany, France and Argentina are all also considering bids.
• France still considering Paris bid for 2024 Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea and the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan.
The U.S. has not hosted an Olympics since 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Molly Geary
