Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan is leading a 10-member delegation of officials from the city’s bid committee and the U.S. Olympic Committee to Lausanne, Switzerland, for the International Olympic Committee’s applicant-cities seminar this week.
It is the first time representatives of all seven applicant cities for the 2016 Summer Games will attend, in an official capacity, an event related to the bid.
The seminar, which runs Monday through Friday, is designed to remind the cities about the rules of conduct for the bid process and help them understand what information is to be included in the application file, which must be submitted by Jan. 14, 2008.
The other applicants are Tokyo; Rio de Janeiro; Madrid; Prague, Czech Repubic; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan.
The IOC will announce finalist cities next June.
Only after that are the cities allowed public promotion of the bids internationally.
The application file includes questions in eight areas, including finance, venues, transport and security.
It also demands governmental guarantees related to backing the financial obligations of the bid and assuring free access to and movement around the host country.
The access issue has become problematic for U.S. bidders because of visa restrictions implemented after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Many international sports officials have complained about difficulties entering the U.S. or passing through its airports in transit to other countries.
The USOC has been able to smooth some of those problems at several major airports. For example, several IOC members arriving at Los Angeles International Airport after July’s IOC session in Guatemala were met as they left their plane and directed through a special immigration line.
Prague’s bid ran into trouble last week when a major Czech Republic political party, the Christian Democrats, said the country did not have enough money for the Olympics.
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phersh@tribune.com
