{"id":782,"date":"2017-09-14T10:30:40","date_gmt":"2017-09-14T14:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/?p=782"},"modified":"2017-09-14T10:26:46","modified_gmt":"2017-09-14T14:26:46","slug":"desperate-times-desperate-measures-for-the-ioc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/2017\/09\/14\/desperate-times-desperate-measures-for-the-ioc\/","title":{"rendered":"Desperate Times, Desperate Measures for the IOC"},"content":{"rendered":"
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International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach (L) welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland in July, 2017 (Reuters<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By announcing Paris and Los Angeles as the hosts of the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympic Games, respectively,\u00a0<\/a>the International Olympic Committee confirmed at their congress in Lima what many Olympic aficionados had known for a long time. Unlike the heart-stopping moments of brilliance we associate with the Olympics, there was no competition. Paris and Los Angeles had survived longest in a bidding process that had seen numerous cities pull out of the process following pressure from grassroots opponents of Olympic bids. With so few potential candidates for the 2024 Games, the IOC decided to pin Los Angeles down to hosting the 2028 Games to save the potential embarrassment of not having a host.<\/p>\n

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Boston, initially the US Olympic Committee\u2019s preferred host city, dropped out before the race had even begun after an impressive campaign of grassroots resistance<\/a>. Hamburg held a referendum on hosting the Olympics, with citizens decisively rejecting the Games<\/a>. Rome elected an anti-Olympic Mayor who subsequently withdrew that city\u2019s candidature<\/a>. In Budapest, political support for the bid fell away sharply as voters scrutinised proposals, leading to withdrawal<\/a>. The Winter Games have fared no better, with a plethora of cities dropping out from the last round of bidding, leaving the IOC forced to choose a host city with no snow<\/a> for 2022.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/bentflyvbjerg\/status\/778644314272432129<\/a><\/p>\n

Why? The answer is surprisingly simple: there are tangible drawbacks for host cities including humungous costs<\/a> and the degradation<\/a> of<\/a> human<\/a> rights<\/a> through evictions<\/a> and militarisation<\/a>, to be weighed against mostly ephemeral benefits<\/a> about pride and inspiration<\/a>. From a policy perspective, as citizens and mayors of countless cities around the world have decided, hosting the Olympics is a terrible decision.<\/p>\n

Rio de Janeiro serves a graphic reminder of everything that can go wrong. The so-called \u201cwonderful city\u201d was ravaged by hosting the Olympic Games. Schools, hospitals and even policing were underfunded as the Olympics sucked money from government budgets<\/a> during Brazil\u2019s worst recession in over a century. The State University of Rio de Janeiro, once the fifth best university in Brazil and a key driver of social justice, has been closed due to a lack of funding<\/a>. Often, the burden has fallen on those who can least afford it, residents of Rio\u2019s favelas who see \u201cpain, death, and despair<\/a>\u201d as their Olympic legacy.<\/p>\n

Tokyo, due to host the next Summer Games in 2020, provides little aid for those searching for a reason to host the Games. Preparations for the Olympics have already been accused of violating the right to housing for poor and elderly residents<\/a>. Budgets are spiralling out of control, exactly as is repeatedly predicted by leading economists of mega-events such as Andrew Zimbalist<\/a> and Bent Flyvberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Olympics are a prime example of what Jules Boykoff calls Celebration Capitalism<\/a>: property developers and investors get filthy rich off the backs of the poor while those of us who might normally object are swept along in the bright lights of sporting glamour. During the contest to host the 2024 Games, however, activists around the world have successfully placed the murky underworld of Olympic hosting in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

In Paris<\/a>, activists have raised objections about the inadequacy of the proposed Olympic budget, which ignores security spending and pushes money toward white elephant stadia even as the government considers cutting health, education and transport budgets. Any infrastructure benefits brought by Olympic investment, activists perceptively note, will serve the interests of the opaque, tax-exempt Swiss-based IOC, not Parisians. This will all happen with no choice given to Parisians: their voices will be marginalised and new laws limiting free expression and sweeping aside environmental protections will be passed.<\/p>\n

The story is frighteningly similar in Los Angeles<\/a>, where opponents of the Games have criticised massive spending on elite sport during a housing crisis. Fears of police brutality and spiralling housing prices have been routinely overlooked by the city council. Mayor Eric Garcetti has refused to make Los Angeles a sanctuary city, as hosting the Olympics will require him to cooperate with the Federal government, thus giving President Trump an unlikely ally in deeply liberal California.<\/p>\n

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Spotted all over LA \u2014 the #NOlympicsLA<\/a> tagger marches on. Thank you, devoted soldier. pic.twitter.com\/1RGTU0XMjS<\/a><\/p>\n

— NOlympics LA (@NOlympicsLA) August 22, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n