Organizers behind Australia’s Queensland 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games bid are forming a new public company that will develop and present the project to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The BidCo’s Board of Directors will have up to 16 members, and names are already being whispered to fill the positions. They will have their first meeting in February, Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) Chief John Coates said earlier this week.
The Board will be comprised of “…athletes, including the Paralympic committee, including corporate representation — and the IOC is going to look for that — and including better gender balance too,” Coates said to the Weekend Australian.
According to the media outlet, Olympic gold medalists Cathy Freeman and Cate Campbell, sports administrator John O’Neill and property developer Mark Stockwell are under serious consideration to help lead the bid, centered in state capital Brisbane, in its quest to bring the Games back to Australia for the first time since 2000 in Sydney.
Along with Coates, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Innovation Minister Kate Jones, Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner and Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s representative Ted O’Brien have already been appointed to the Board.
Palaszczuk gave the bid the formal nod Monday when the State Cabinet voted its approval. The federal government is already behind the project but it must be rubber-stamped by politicians.
The Premier said the BidCo will solidify plans in the six months leading up to the Tokyo 2020 Games where official documents will be submitted to the IOC. Campaigning and a targeted dialog between the two organizations will fill the balance of the year. The host city could be elected as early as 2021 but no specific dates have been set at this time.
Queensland could face rivals on the International stage including from India, Indonesia, Germany, China and jointly between North and South Korea but time seems to be running out as Australia surges ahead with plans.
The Queensland bid emerged as an early favorite this year after Morrison pledged AUD $10 million (USD $6.85 million) towards developing plans, claiming the expense was warranted even if the IOC doesn’t choose Australia to host the Games. In September a delegation led by the Premier traveled to IOC headquarters in Lausanne to start a dialogue with the Future Host Commission for the Summer Games and IOC President Thomas Bach.
