Olympic Committee chief demands 'sustainable' Games

Yahoo – AFP, Peter Hutchison, 20 Sep 2014

Thomas Bach (left), pictured at an Asian Games press conference in Incheon on

 September 20, 2014, said future Olympic Games hosts will have to prove their

 "sustainability" and that there will be a shake-up of the bidding criteria (AFP

Photo/Richard A. Brooks)

Incheon (South Korea) (AFP) - Olympic boss Thomas Bach Saturday said future Games hosts would have to prove their "sustainability" and that there would be a shake-up of the bidding criteria.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president made the comments to Olympic Council of Asia delegates in Incheon, which has gone into debt to host the ongoing Asian Games.

The German official said the IOC has to "act now" to preserve its "relevance", suggesting cities who pitch for international sports events need to think about the long-term impact.

Thomas Bach says the IOC has to

 "act now" to preserve its "relevance", 

suggesting cities who pitch for 

international sports events need to

 think about the long-term impact

(AFP Photo/Richard A Brooks)

"There is broad agreement that we need changes in the bidding and candidature procedure for the Olympic Games," Bach told the OCA general assembly.

"We need to address the fact that in today's world the Games need to make a greater contribution to sustainability.

"We have to encourage and motivate the candidate cities to take sustainability into account from the very beginning of the bidding procedure," he added.

"So, in the future we want to invite potential bidding cities to tell us how they see the Olympic Games fitting into their social, economical, ecological and sports environment."

Bach's address came on the sidelines of the 17th Asian Games, which have cost nearly $2 billion and made Incheon South Korea's most indebted city.

Vietnam withdrew from holding the next Asian Games because of the cost. China's Guangzhou was reportedly left with heavy debts after it staged the Games four years ago.

Bach said recent Asian and Olympic Games have been successful, but warned national Olympic committees against complacency.

- 'We have to act now' -

"If you don't change at the moment when you are successful the day will come when you will face problems or a crisis," he said.

"Sport has become too important in society to isolate itself from the society around sport. We are too important to ignore what is happening in society.

"If the world around you is making progress and going forward you can't just stand still. If you stand still you lose relevance... we have to act now."

Bach -- who has just completed a year as IOC president -- also said the Olympics "can enjoy a greater diversity" of disciplines than they do now.

"We have to become more flexible when it comes to the composition of the Olympic programme," he said, adding that the body must try to "react faster" to sporting trends amongst youngsters.

The comments will give hope to fans of softball and baseball, which was last played at the Games in 2008. They have been replaced by golf and rugby sevens for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Pressure is growing for the IOC to reinstate baseball at the 2020 Tokyo Games due to its popularity in Japan.

Speaking to reporters after his address, Bach refused to be drawn on whether he wanted to see baseball return.

"We have to discuss the procedures first -- how we can make the composition of the agenda more flexible," he said referring to a special IOC meeting scheduled for later in the year.

"We'll wait for the vote in December. Then we can talk about individual sports and disciplines."