IOC Youth Olympics: Candidate Cities Are Being Whittled Down

as reported by Sport Business...

The International Olympic Committee short listed five cities as Candidate Cities to host the first Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010 - with Moscow seemingly heading the race.

The five cities - Athens, Bangkok, Moscow, Singapore and Turin - were chosen unanimously from the nine cities that submitted Candidature Files. Debrecen, Guatemala City, Kuala Lumpur and Poznan failed to make the cut.

According to the IOC, the selection of Candidate Cities was based on an analysis of the Bid Books submitted by the Applicant Cities, covering key Games factors such as venues, transport, accommodation, educational and cultural programmes and security.

Moscow was at the top of a list of applicants. The IOC scored each bid and Moscow emerged as a favourite - scoring highly in every category including accomodation, general infrastructure and the Olympic Village.

Moscow Mayor and the bid’s Chairman Victor Luzhkov said: “Today is the beginning of a decisive phase in our journey towards the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. We are committed to continue our hard work with dignity and respect to the Olympic Ideals. We know the other candidate cities are strong rivals and we have to remain focused. Moscow can and will contribute in making the first Youth Olympic Games a truly memorable and global event. We have a strong team, a detailed plan and the passion to materialise the dreams of millions of people”.

Deputy Mayor of Moscow and the bid’s CEO Valery Vinogradov said: “It is a great honour for Moscow to be selected as a Candidate City and we will do our best to prove that the IOC is right in choosing Moscow as a city that has the potential to host the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games. We remain confident that we will fully demonstrate Moscow’s unique proposal in the months to come”.

An IOC Evaluation Commission, chaired by IOC Executive Board member Sergey Bubka will now visit the five short listed cities, submitting its report to the IOC Executive at the end of January 2008.