British minister supports Turkey’s bid for Olympics

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish Minister of Youth and Sports Suat Kılıç (L) and British Minister for Sport and Tourism Hugh Robertson (R). AA Photo

Istanbul has a very good chance to be voted the host city for the 2020 Olympic Games, according to British Minister for Sport and Tourism Hugh Robertson, who has noted that the decison will come down to the presentation.

“A lot of these things are decided on how you present your case to OIC members and the presentation you make on the day. It is about the work you put in now and when it happens in September and the presentation on the day,” Robertson, who is visiting Turkey to explore potential cooperation opportunities between the United Kingdom and Turkey in regards to his country’s experience with the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, has said.

Turkey has to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about its vision and reasons behind its Istanbul 2020 Olympic Games candidacy, added Robertson.

The IOC will vote between Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul for the 2020 Games in September in Buenos Aires.

“First you have to convince the IOC that you can make it work. You’ve got to appeal to the head. And you have to appeal a little bit to the heart and persuade all IOC members they should give it to you.

It’s about the vision that lies behind the bid,” Robertson said in an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News on Feb. 18.

Referring to the recent Olympic Games, candidate countries put forward their reasons and vision to the IOC for why they should host the next Games, he said.

“Sydney was great starting a new millennium, Sydney’s images of the opera house and all the rest of it. In Athens, it was about returning to the Olympics’ historical roots. In Beijing, it was an opportunity for China coming out as one of the world’s super powers. We said, ‘Give it to us we’ll enthuses lots of young people about playing sports,” the minister said.

His country wants to share the UK’s experience in developing sports infrastructure and in staging major sporting events, Robertson said ahead of his meetings with Turkish officials. Several UK companies, which set the infrastructure of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games are also accompanying the British minister in his visit to Turkey.

They want to share expertise with Turkey for the initial bidding stage through the running of the organization, the minister said.

He stressed that getting security plans right was important. “You will need the military, but you’ll have [to use] the military in different way. It’s more about giving people confidence. Getting your legacy and getting the security rights are two things that we certainly learned.”

Transportation would be one of the main issues to pay attention to and the country must get its transportation plan right, according to the minister.

Meanwhile, meeting with Robertson today, Turkish Minister of Youth and Sports Suat Kılıç said, “We believe that with the support of British Minister for Sports and Tourism Robertson, we will carry out a better organization than London 2012.”

If it manages to convince the IOC, Turkey will be the first Muslim country to host the Games. The IOC’s Evaluation Commission will visit Tokyo, Madrid, and Istanbul in March before publishing a report in June with the 2020 Candidate City Seminar set for July.