AOC Chief Says Brisbane 2032 Venues Decision Needed by July
Australian Olympic Committee chief executive Matt Carroll has warned that a final decision on the main venues for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics needs to be made before the end of June.
Brisbane was awarded the Games in 2021 but political rows, particularly over the main stadium and the venue for the athletics, have meant that a final plan is not yet in place.
Upon his election as Queensland State Premier last November, David Crisafulli announced a seven-member board would conduct a second review of the venue options and report in early March.
"I think it is time to finalize any more reviews and settle on exactly what the ... governments want to fund in terms of venues," Carroll told a Senate Inquiry at the Federal Parliament in Canberra on Friday.
"I think (that needs to happen in) the first half of this year, for two reasons.
"One, the sports program will start to be fleshed out the following year in 2026, which is obviously very important, and it's obviously important to start the construction process, or whatever work that needs to be done, which is going to take a bit of time."
Carroll said that Brisbane being awarded the Games an unprecedented 11 years before the opening ceremony had proved to be a double-edged sword, but any further delays could lead to challenges in completing projects in plenty of time.
"It's important to get on with the job now in decisions around the venues, in decisions around anything that's going to be built," he said.
"The construction industry in Australia is stretched at the moment, therefore, to be able to start to do all these venues, wherever they may be, needs to be you know moved along swiftly, but everyone knows that."
Crisafulli's predecessor Steven Miles had rejected a plan for a A$2.7 billion ($1.7 billion) revamp of Brisbane's Gabba cricket ground as well as a proposed new A$3.4 billion Olympic stadium in the inner city's Victoria Park.
His solution, the use of the Lang Park rugby stadium to host the opening and closing ceremonies with the athletics taking place in the ageing QSAC venue in southern suburbs of the city, was described as an "embarrassment" by a group of local Olympic champions.
Crisafulli's review committee is no longer taking submissions, having already received a proposal from Swimming Australia for a new aquatics center in Victoria Park and another for a 60,000-seat wooden stadium to be built next to the Gabba.
Environmental campaigners and some local residents are already organizing in opposition to any development of Victoria Park, which Greens Senator Penny Allman-Payne described as the "lungs" of Brisbane.
Carroll said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would need to approve any changes to the venue plan, which would also have to align with bid commitments Brisbane made on environmental impact and sustainability.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
31 minutes ago
- Arab News
Outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach faced mammoth challenges
PARIS: Thomas Bach's eventful 12-year tenure as president of the International Olympic Committee comes to an end on Monday when he hands over the reins to Kirsty Coventry, the first woman and African to hold sport's most powerful political office. The 71-year-old German lawyer, a 1976 Olympic team fencing champion, faced many challenges during his time in power. AFP Sport picks out three: President Vladimir Putin was the first person to ring Bach to congratulate him on his election in 2013 — little did Bach realize how Russia was to dog his presidency. The state-sponsored doping scandal at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and Russia breaking the Olympic Truce twice, in 2014 and 2022, taxed his patience and that of the IOC movement. Bach faced pressure from both sides before the 2024 Paris Games and in the end permitted Russian athletes to compete despite the invasion of Ukraine, but only after being strictly vetted and under a neutral flag. For Michael Payne, a former head of IOC marketing, Russia was the 'large elephant in the room' and Bach was in a 'no-win situation.' His fellow former IOC marketing executive Terrence Burns, who lived and worked in Russia in the 1990s, said Bach was one of many leaders fooled by Putin. 'On doping he should have been harsher,' Burns told AFP. 'But let's be honest, the whole thing was almost unbelievable. 'On Ukraine, you were damned if you do and damned if you don't. 'I don't think any western government or politician has ever figured out Russia... nor did he.' Hugh Robertson, now an IOC member and the British sports minister responsible for overseeing the delivery of the highly successful 2012 London Games, believes Bach played his hand well over the Paris Games. 'The balance he struck over Russian participation in Paris was in line with the Olympic Charter,' Robertson told AFP. 'He took very strong action against the government, banned any events in Russia, any national representation and any national symbols.' Bach had 'a very tough presidency and never caught a break' said Payne, but he always held his nerve. No more so than when Bach resisted calls from within Japan for the Tokyo Games to be canceled, not just postponed to 2021, because of the Covid pandemic. Payne says Bach's painful memories of missing the Moscow Games in 1980 due to a boycott linked to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, had left their mark. The German said the IOC would not pull the plug. In addition, the ramifications of canceling Tokyo would have been enormous for the IOC. 'Think about if Tokyo had not taken place,' said Payne. 'Would Beijing (the 2022 Winter Games) have taken place as well? 'The Olympic movement losing four years is maybe not existential, but boy it would have been tough.' In the end the Games did go ahead but the majority of athletes performed in empty stadia as local organizers banned spectators. Burns says it was a tour de force from Bach. 'Honestly, I think it was his sheer willpower that made those Games happen when everyone, and I mean everyone, in the world doubted him,' said the American. 'Japan tried to pull out. He called their bluff. Smart.' Robertson saw it from 'inside the bubble' as he was then chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA). 'Of course it was a huge disappointment that there were no spectators but a generation of athletes got the chance to compete in an Olympic Games,' said the 62-year-old. 'It probably would not have been the case had Bach not been in charge. 'I think athletes around the world owe Thomas Bach a huge vote of thanks.' Bach departs with the IOC's finances in rude health. He has boasted of a '60 percent growth in revenues' during his dozen years at the helm. Payne says he has indeed increased revenues but the 67-year-old Irishman cautioned that 'with increasing revenues partners become more demanding,' adding 'just because you have contracts locked up does not mean you do not change and evolve.' Robertson praises Bach for handing over to Coventry an IOC 'in an extremely robust financial position.' He added the policy of locking sponsors into long-term deals 'gave the IOC financial certainty at an exceptionally difficult time and we are seeing the benefit of that now.' Burns for his part draws on an aphorism of a former US president. 'Ronald Reagan used to say are you better off today than you were four years ago? 'By any measure, Bach enriched the IOC coffers. 'In the end that is all that matters.' 'He will go down as one of the three great IOC presidents along with Pierre de Coubertin and Juan Antonio Samaranch.' — Payne 'A transformational president in unprecedented times.' — Burns 'Thomas Bach had the most difficult deck of cards to play of any IOC president. He has played them exceptionally well and left the IOC stronger than when he took over.'
Al Arabiya
19 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Paris' Iconic Cauldron From the Olympic Games Returns to Light Up Summer Nights
A year after it captivated crowds during the Paris Olympics, a centerpiece of the summer Games is making a comeback. The iconic helium-powered balloon that attracted myriads of tourists during the summer Games has shed its Olympic branding and is now just called the Paris Cauldron. It is set to rise again into the air later Saturday, lifting off over the Tuileries Garden. Around 30,000 people are expected to attend the launch, which coincides with France's annual street music festival – the Fete de la Musique, the Paris police prefecture said. And it won't be a one-time event. After Saturday's flight, the balloon will lift off into the sky each summer evening from June 21 to Sept. 14 for the next three years. The cauldron's ascent may become a new rhythm of the Parisian summer, with special flights planned for Bastille Day on July 14 and the anniversary of the 2024 opening ceremony on July 26. Gone is the official Olympic branding – forbidden under IOC reuse rules – but the spectacle remains. The 30-meter (98-foot)-tall floating ring dreamed up by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur and powered by French energy company EDF simulates flame without fire: LED lights, mist jets, and high-pressure fans create a luminous halo that hovers above the city at dusk, visible from rooftops across the capital. Though it stole the show in 2024, the cauldron was only meant to be temporary, not engineered for multi-year outdoor exposure. To transform it into a summer staple, engineers reinforced it. The aluminum ring and tether points were rebuilt with tougher components to handle rain, sun, and temperature changes over several seasons. Though it's a hot-air-balloon-style, the lift comes solely from helium – no flame, no burner, just gas and engineering. The structure first dazzled during the Olympics. Over just 40 days it drew more than 200,000 visitors, according to officials. Now anchored in the center of the drained Tuileries pond, the cauldron's return is part of French President Emmanuel Macron's effort to preserve the Games' spirit in the city as Paris looks ahead to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Olympic leader Bach got 10 percent raise in 2024 payment that trails far behind soccer's elected leaders
GENEVA: The International Olympic Committee paid its president Thomas Bach $350,000 in 2024, the Olympic body said Friday — a 10 percent raise for his final full year in office after a two-year freeze. The payment, or 'indemnity' in Olympic language, revealed in its annual report is small compared to soccer bodies that, like the IOC, are based in Switzerland and count annual revenue in billions. Bach on Monday will formally hand over to President-elect Kirsty Coventry, who will start an eight-year initial term as the Olympic body's first female leader and first from Africa. The IOC has classed the 71-year-old Bach as a volunteer on a full-time executive mission who 'should not have to finance activities related to his function from his personal savings.' Bach, who also gets living allowances, was paid from 12 percent to 15 percent what soccer gives its top elected officials. FIFA paid its president Gianni Infantino $5.2 million in taxable salary and bonus last year, plus other expenses. Infantino also is among the 109 IOC members and so can claim $7,000 each year for office costs and $450 daily allowance when on Olympic business. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin got almost $4.3 million in taxable income last year, including $300,000 from FIFA as one of its vice presidents. It is unclear if the 41-year-old Coventry will be a salaried president of the IOC instead of officially a volunteer. The IOC was asked for comment. The two-time Olympic champion in swimming left her job as sports minister of Zimbabwe after winning the seven-candidate IOC election in March. Bach's annual payment has been decided by the IOC's ethics commission on the stated principle 'the president should not financially benefit from his position.' The German lawyer held a series of business consultancies and board of director seats before being elected in 2013 to lead the IOC. The IOC paid Bach 225,000 euros ($259,000) in 2020. It rose to 275,000 euros ($317,000) in the year of his re-election, 2021, then was frozen for each of the next two years. International sports bodies have typically published details of leadership pay as part of governance reforms, particularly after corruption scandals in soccer.
