Newly elected International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said Wednesday that he wants to change the bidding process for future Olympics, and make sustainable development a key priority.
Bach said he wants populations of potential host cities to “be part of the candidature at a very early stage” to ensure “more participation and support”.
He added that he believes the current bidding system asks for “too much, too early” and leads to predictability, rather than creativity.
Bach said, “we approach potential candidate cities like you would do in business, with a tender for a franchise. All the bid books are written by the same people around the world – you get the same answers.
“I would like to try and change that mentality a little bit, to think about bidding more as an invitation. I want to invite potential candidates to study how Olympic Games would fit into their long-term city and regional and country development…(and) could contribute to sustainable development in their environment”, said Bach.
