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Outgoing IOC President Bach urges African regions to bid for the Olympic Games as he continues his final tour of the continent

“In order to have the Games in Africa, an African country must show interest in organizing the Games and a number of African countries are in a position to organize the event after all the reforms that we have undertaken,” Thomas Bach said at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

IOC President Thomas Bach visits Dakar, Senegal in October 2024 while the city prepares to host the Youth Olympic Games in 2026 (© IOC/Greg Martin)
IOC President Thomas Bach visits Dakar, Senegal in October 2024 while the city prepares to host the Youth Olympic Games in 2026 (© IOC/Greg Martin)

Nearing the completion of his final whistle-stop tour of Africa, outgoing International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach encouraged regions in the continent to bid to host a future Olympic Games.

“In order to have the Games in Africa, an African country must show interest in organizing the Games and a number of African countries are in a position to organize the event after all the reforms that we have undertaken,” Thomas Bach said at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya Thursday according to Pulse Sports.

During his Presidency Bach spearheaded Agenda 2020+5, a policy that includes his reforms to change the way regions can bid for, and host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. By discouraging new builds specifically for the event and adapting to the region’s existing infrastructure and development plans, Bach has insisted future Games can cost less, be more sustainable and ultimately accessible to more nations. The new policy came as several cities concerned with spiraling costs dropped out of the running in past campaigns.

“You can ask for the 2036 Games and the countries that have submitted their papers are not even from the G20 countries. There are many opportunities because after these reforms,” he said.

Bach started his tour of the continent on Dakar, Senegal where the Youth Olympic Games are set to take place in 2026, delayed four years due to the Covid pandemic. Bach was instrumental is siting this first-ever Olympic edition in Africa when his Executive Board opened the bidding only to nations from the continent.

Africa has failed with two prior bids to host the Games. Cairo’s run at the 2008 edition crumbled when the Egyptian capital was left off the short list. Cape Town in South Africa drew far more attention from the IOC but its bid to host in 2004 placed third behind Rome and winner Athens.

Both Egypt and Cape Town are said to have expressed interest in hosting the next available edition in 2036, or in 2040.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics IOC member and President of Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) Mustapha Berraf named Egypt and South Africa and said “Africa has the chance of organizing the Games,” but recognizing the competition for 2036 he added “It will most likely organize the Games in 2040.”

The IOC does not disclose interested parties who are currently involved in continuous dialogue but some jurisdictions have already discussed intentions for 2036 publicly. These include Istanbul in Türkiye, India, Indonesia, Santiago in Chile, Seoul in South Korea, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Germany and UK are considering 2040 bids.

Los Angeles is set to host the Games in 2028 while Brisbane, Australia will stage the Games in 2032.

South Africa hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and east coast city Durban was awarded the Commonwealth Games in 2022 only to have it stripped after failing to meet financial commitments. Durban also staged the IOC’s 123rd Session in 2011.

Last week in Johannesburg Bach told the media “Africa is on the rise and South Africa has the stability, the infrastructure and vision to stage an Olympics,”

“I can only encourage Africa to gain some confidence, come up and express interest in a country or city and in the meantime, I think Africa can be already proud because we have already allocated the Youth 2026 Games to Africa and this was our commitment,” He said in Kenya Thursday.

Bach’s travel in Africa took him from Dakar to Johannesburg, then to Lesotho capital Maseru, Uganda and Kenya. His successor will be elected at the 144th IOC Session in Greece from 18 to 21 March next year. His term will end Olympic Day, June 23, 2025.

A senior producer and award-winning journalist covering Olympic bid business as founder of GamesBids.com as well as providing freelance support for print and Web publications around the world. Robert Livingstone is a member of the Olympic Journalists Association and the International Society of Olympic Historians.

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