Yahoo – AFP,
Françoise CHAPTAL, Aug 1, 2017
Paris was insistent on hosting the Olympics in 2024, on the 100th anniversary of the city's 1924 Games (AFP Photo/FRANCK FIFE) |
Paris (AFP)
- Paris was celebrating victory on Tuesday in its bid to host the 2024 Olympic
Games after Los Angeles announced its intention to host the 2028 event instead
in return for financial sweeteners.
Officially,
French President Emmanuel Macron gave Monday's announcement by Los Angeles a
cautious welcome, hailing a "very important step" on the road to
hosting the Games.
The deal
was described by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach as a
"win-win-win" agreement for both cities and the Olympic movement.
But despite
the fact that Paris is now effectively the only remaining candidate to host the
2024 Summer Games, Macron and other bid leaders shied away from overt
triumphalism until an official announcement.
"France
notes the decision of Los Angeles to put forward its candidature for 2028 and
to reach an agreement with the IOC and Paris," a statement from Macron's
office said.
Macron
spoke to Bach following Los Angeles' announcement and was "delighted by
this very important step towards France obtaining the Games in 2024".
Olympic
Games host cities (AFP Photo/Paz PIZARRO)
|
Announcing
the decision on Monday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said "this deal
was too good to pass up".
Paris Mayor
Anne Hidalgo said on Twitter: "Happy that my friend @MayorofLA has made an
important new step on an agreement that will have three winners: Paris, Los
Angeles and the IOC."
However
others were less circumspect, with French newspapers celebrating the Paris win
and Tony Estanguet, the Paris bid co-leader, saying he could see "nothing
standing in the way of Paris staging the Games".
"This
time we've won it," said a headline on the front page of Le Parisien
newspaper.
Paris,
which will host the Games for a third time, endured the disappointment of
failed bids in 1992, 2008 and 2012.
Both Paris
and Los Angeles had wanted to host the 2024 Olympics, with the winner to be
officially named by the IOC on September 13 in the Peruvian capital Lima.
But the
possibility that Los Angeles would abandon a 2024 bid and instead accept the
2028 Games has been growing since the IOC decided in July that it would attempt
to award both Games at its Lima meeting.
The French
capital insisted it only wanted to host the Games in 2024, on the 100th
anniversary of the city's 1924 Olympics, prompting Los Angeles to soften its
stance and consider hosting the 2028 Games.
Los Angeles
has twice hosted the Summer Olympics, in 1932 and 1984 (AFP
Photo/FREDERIC J.
BROWN)
|
'Proud'
And
confirmation of the decision everyone was expecting came on Monday night.
"I am
proud to announce the Olympic Games are coming back to the United States of
America," Mayor Garcetti said at a ceremony at the StubHub Center stadium.
"In
2028, we are bringing the Games back to LA, one of the great capitals of the
Olympic movement. A city that has always been a Games changer and will be again
in 2028."
LA
officials, who had put forward a $5.3 billion (4.5 billion euros) bid for 2024,
said an agreement had been reached with the IOC on financial considerations
that would make waiting an extra four years feasible.
Bid chief
Casey Wasserman said the IOC had waived various fees and payments that could
ultimately save LA organisers millions.
The IOC
will also advance $180 million to LA organisers to lessen the impact of the
longer lead-up time, money that normally would not be disbursed until closer to
the Games kickoff.
Los
Angeles' Mayor Eric Garcetti said that the city "would be stupid" not
to
agree to host the Olympics in 2028 (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)
|
"The
IOC contribution as stipulated by the HCC is $1.8 billion and has the potential
to exceed $2 billion according to the evaluation of the LA bid committee when
taking into account the estimated value of existing sponsor agreements to be
renewed and potential new marketing deals," the bid committee said in a
statement.
Like Paris,
this will bring the Games back to Los Angeles for a third time, after the city
hosted in 1932 and 1984.
The
agreement must still be approved by the Los Angeles City Council and the United
States Olympic Committee -- both of which backed the 2024 bid.
But Bach
said he expected any remaining hurdles to be cleared.
"We
are very confident that we can reach a tripartite agreement under the
leadership of the IOC with LA and Paris in August, creating a win-win-win
situation for all three partners," he said.
The United
States last hosted the Summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 while the Winter
Games were held in Salt Lake City in 2002.
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