The International Olympic Committee has decided that Osaka and Istanbul could stay in the race for the 2008 Summer Games.
IOC Director General Francois Carrard said: “The executive board has decided not to reduce the number of cities presenting their candidatures in Moscow. The board took the decision very quickly”.
Carrard said each city has until May 25 to file any objections or clarifications on the IOC evaluation report. He did not rule out the option of any of the cities deciding to drop out on their own. “It is up to the cities to draw whatever consequences they want from the report”, he said.
Although the responses of the bid cities to the report will be supplied to all IOC members, Carrard said the evaluation document itself will not be revised.
IOC board member Dick Pound said it would have been unfair for the IOC to pull the cities out before they had had the time to reply to the criticisms. He said he did not think the two cities would withdraw voluntarily.
On Osaka, the IOC report expressed concern about potential traffic problems and financing for the city’s planned large scale infrastructure projects.
Regarding Istanbul, the panel cited uncertainties about the financing of the Games, Turkey’s economic crisis and overall planning.
Osaka officials said the report had mistakenly said the city investment in non-organizing committee projects like roads and railways was $28 billion.
They said “Osaka City’s share of the $28 billion is only $3.5 billion. The Osaka Bid Committee wants to make it perfectly clear that Osaka City is more than financially capable of handling its share of the investment. Hopefully this explanation will clarify this issue and will restore confidence in Osaka City’s bid”.
In a press release, Osaka mayor Takafumi Isomura, Chairman of the Osaka 2008 Olympic Committee said, “I pledge that I will take it upon myself, as an Econmics Professor, to clarify the non-OCOG budget by Friday, May 25, in a manner that will satisfy the IOC scrutiny and restore confidence in us”.
He added, “we hope to demonstrate the viability of our transport system during the East Asian Games to open on May 19.”
“Moreover, we will continue to work hard in order to gain wider recognitiion as a capable organizer of international competitions at the East Asian Games and other major events taking place in Osaka”.
Meanwhile, Yalcin Aksoy, an official of the Istanbul bid committee, insisted Istanbul still had a chance.
“This decision does in no way mean that the work for Istanbul 2008 is over”, he said. “It is obvious that it has decreased chances, but this means that we have to work harder to convince that Istanbul is a perfect city given to its cultural heritage.”
