A multinational team of experts, including Australia’s Bob Elphinston who is one of the most respected sports administrators in the world, arrived in Baku this week to help Baku develop the best possible plan for its 2020 Olympic bid.
The team includes experts in Olympic architecture, sport and venues, security, transport, accommodation and environment.
Elphinston was general manager for the 2000 Sydney Olympics bid and was directly responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the 28 sports at the Olympic Games.
Konul Nurullayeva, CEO of Baku’s bid committee said, “it is a pleasure and a privilege to welcome this highly distinguished team here in Baku. I am confident that, with their enormous experience and expertise, together we can develop an extremely high quality bid. In Baku we are investing billions of dollars to build a world-class sporting infrastructure. Thanks to our strong and stable economy, in the past three years we have already started construction on a new Olympic Stadium, as well as an Olympic complex – and several new sports arena are under also construction”.
Elphinston said, “I have been taken by surprise by the beauty and vibrancy of Baku – the city is one of the world’s best-kept secrets and ripe for discovery.
“I think that together we can put together an extremely credible bid for Baku. Azerbaijan has a very young population – more than 50 per cent are under the age of 30. Hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Baku in 2020 has the potential to extend the Olympic ideals to millions of new hearts and minds”.
