TO-2008 isn’t standing on its laurels, following the IOC’s technical team’s favourable comments. In fact it’s already making sure that all voting members of the IOC will have Toronto’s bid book, (officially known as the candidature file), for the Moscow vote July 13, and not just the report by the IOC’s evaluation commission.
The bid book, all three-volumes and 600 pages of it, has been mailed to each of the IOC’s 127 members, said TO-2008 spokesperson Mark Arsenault. It’s also being sent to the heads of 28 international sports federations and the national Olympic committees of nearly 200 countries.
The bid book details the technical aspects of the bid, from transportation to venue capacity to geography. Arsenault said, “it will satisfy their need for information, which is especially important when they can’t visit our city themselves”.
The book will also be made public for the first time in about two weeks on CD-ROM and on the Internet, when the commission’s evaluation of all the cities is finished, said Arsenault.
The bid’s international relations head James Villleneuve has outlined the plan for a targeted communications strategy to begin once the commission has released its report, possibly in May. “If you’ve done your homework you know what each IOC member is interested in”. he said. “So we can gear information toward their interests”.’
The only glitch in Toronto’s evaluation was on a point in the budget, which Bitove said was a misunderstanding that will be revised and re-submitted. The bid committee will issue a new budget, based on changes requested by the IOC, said Bitove, but he declined to reveal details. The changes are expected to result in a small increase in the projected $79-million surplus projected for the Games.
Although TO-Bid officials were excited about the success of the bid, Bitove said they realize that Paris and Istanbul are still left to be evaluated, and are strong contenders.
He added, “we know we are in a race, but this city can compete with any city on any issue and this is going to go to the wire. On the first vote we will be srong so long as the governments remain together and the public always wants to pursue this. We just have to keep together and stay focused as a team”.
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