Melbourne is seriously considering bidding for the Olympic Games, reports The Sunday Age. Sir Rod Eddington, chairman of the Victorian Major Events Company, the body that would lead the bid, told the Austrian Olympic Committee (AOC) in November of Melbourne’s interest in hosting the Games in either 2024 or 2028.
Senior sporting officials supported by Premier John Brumby are now investigating the viability and cost of bringing the event back to Victoria, site of the 1956 Games.
AOC head John Coates has spoken with Sir Rod about Melbourne’s interest and said the city was well placed to host the Games because it already had so many world-class sporting facilities. He said, “the MCG would have to be at the centre of the bid – it would have to be. Melbourne has most of the sporting facilities already in place. In fact the only issue in terms of venues is that you would need to develop a new rowing and canoeing course”.
According to The Sunday Age, a source close to the proposal said the VMEC had debated the viability of a Melbourne bid since the Beijing Games ended.
Newly elected Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said Friday that he would support a bid for the Games. “I’m very keen to see the Olympics in Melbourne; it’s the best city in Australia for the staging of major events”.
But he warned that hosting an Olympics would be very costly and “the key to success in these international events is not only delivering them but leveraging economic growth and long-term jobs”.
