A report says that TO-Bid organizers will spend more than $2 million in Moscow this week in a last-ditch effort to get the 2008 Summer Games.
The sum doesn’t include money spent for travel and high-end accommodation by the federal, provincial and municipal governments. There is also a large contingent of officials — ranging from the Prime Minister to Toronto’s police chief, to lobby the IOC delegates.
Bob Richardson, TO-2008’s chief operating officer said, “what we want to do here is visibly and tangibly show that we have strong government support for this bid”.
Kevan Gosper of Australia, a member of the IOC executive, said what makes this vote diffeent from past selections is that many delegates have yet to make up their minds.
He said, “this time, the dynamics are quite different. I think a higher proportion will come with open minds”. He also points to another major change. With the exception of its site-evaluation commission, there have been no visits by IOC members to any of the bid cities.
“They’ll want to talk about it and listen to others’ views before they go for the decision. You’ll get a group of people who’ll say, ‘look, there are three finalists and I want to hear what they are going to say'”.
This time the 45-minute presentation prior to the vote could actually have an influence on the outcome. Gosper said, “historically, people have said presentations aren’t a big deal. They’re inclined to say that presentations could lose votes, but that they won’t necessarily gain votes for a candidature. I think that dynamic is now different, as well”. But that also makes lobbying a “very delicate” exercise, he said.
“You can’t let too many people loose on the voters who don’t have the background to the (bid) and who don’t understand the sensitivites of talking with an international group. What you might say to your friend over the bar in your own country doesn’t necessarily go down well with a person from another part of the world”.
Beijing has its own problems about the human rights issue and the argument has long been that subsequent rounds of voting will see Beijing’s support rapidly erode with Toronto in a better position than Paris to capitalize on the bleeding.
Wang Wei, secretary general of the Beijing bid, downplayed the human rights issue and even suggested many allegations of abuse are untrue.
As Wang spoke, an advisor from a U.S. public relations firm urged him to continue his message. “We are not a political organization. Our mission here is to bid for the Games. Right now, we are concentrating on our success. We are working very hard. We don’t look back”, he said.
Gosper says, “Beijing has been the front-runner all along. They’re still the city to beat. But when you’re having competition from cities with the strength of Toronto and Paris, you have to be very cautious and still say this is an open race and it could be close”.
