Olympics in Mexico, a candidacy with unanswered questions

It was officially confirmed that Mexico will seek to host the Olympic Games. The COM together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by María José Alcalá and Marcelo Ebrard, made the announcement adhering to the new distribution of investment for the organization, which leaves the government with only 10% of the cost of hosting the sporting event . However, despite the relevance of the information, there are many loose ends on the way to achieving the objective.

“We have been analyzing all the adjustments and changes that have taken place in the International Olympic Committee for everything related to the organization and costing of the Olympic Games. That is something that has made us decide (to run) because there are different conditions that can be favorable for us as a country. We could start doing all the studies: geopolitical, economic, sports, social. The states that could be venues, the entire group of advisors or promoters to achieve the objective, in the end what we want is for Mexico to have an opportunity to see itself once again in the sports field in the international sphere as one of the great countries that can Organizing the Olympic Games, it is not easy to fulfill this dream, it requires a lot of work, organization and conviction, but if we do not seek to give our country that opportunity, it will become increasingly difficult”, explained María José Alcalá for El Economista.

After the announcement of the candidacy, the president of the COM has emphasized everything that has to be worked on in the coming years, however they still do not have a work team on various issues to be the best option before the IOC in the coming years. years.

“We are making a list (on specialists) that is being analyzed and studied. In Mexico there are great businessmen, diplomats, people of culture and sports, so I think we can form a group where there can be great diversity and where everyone can contribute to this project. At this time the project must be organized to begin to analyze the feasibility. This project is an investment of time and money of our own, until the matter of sending the letter to the IOC is concluded, until then we will not be able to have resources”.

Alcalá mentioned that the IOC is more flexible with the candidacies by not choosing venues seven years in advance, so Mexico would have more time to develop the organization well with more than a decade to go. In the letter they must send, they must highlight, according to María José, how the project would be built financially, what legacy they want to leave to Mexico and what sports infrastructure they have.

On the other hand, the International Olympic Committee has also sought to improve on various issues when choosing the venue, for example, in terms of sustainability, they highlight that it is possible to have an Olympic village that has easy access to the venues of each discipline, something that is not so well established in Mexico. The president highlighted the growth of various states in sports infrastructure but did not outline a plan to compete in the aforementioned.

“There are states that have grown a lot in their (sports) infrastructure and also an effort of venues could be coordinated, it could be the Bajío. The important thing here is to see how this project comes out and is built as a team, that we hope Mexico does well. The Olympic Games require a large investment but it remains in the country because infrastructure development, economic, digital and environmental development are achieved, leadership is also created in the region for our country, Mexico must be at the forefront ( …) All countries have advantages and disadvantages, different states are being considered that could sponsor the event and from there define a strategy”.

Regarding the data on the cost of hosting Forbes Olympic Games, in recent years an amount between 15 and 20,000 million dollars has been invested. Under the new structure promoted by the COM, the Mexican government would have to invest 1.5 or 2,000 million. figure that would have to be analyzed by the organization that follows after that of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Given this, Alcalá emphasized that said money would be spent over a long time.

“The federal government would have around 15 years to add said investment, strategic alliances would have to be added in which the private sector could participate. It is not intended to leave the burden to the government, so the following administrations would have to understand how the project is being carried out, where it is headed and what the benefits are so that they can make the best decision”.

Finally, María José Alcalá assured that there are already people within the private sector who are seeking to promote the project, however she commented that it is only a first approach, so she could not give details about who raised their hands in favor of the Olympic Games in Mexico.

yoshua.navarro@eleconomista.mx