Courtesy Votes Could Derail The Major Two

Only two weeks remain in New York’s increasingly interesting run at the 2012 Olympic Games, and, for the NYC2012 team, there will be very little rest between now and decision day on July 6 in Singapore.First, the international athletics organization, IAAF, gave its important blessing for the new Mets Stadium design last week. Now with valuable feedback in hand, NYC2012 can prepare and submit the appropriate documents to the IOC this week. The components of New York’s revised venue plan seem to be falling into place nicely, but the questions that remain are whether the IOC will accept the changes at face value, and whether there will be an update to the evaluation report to accurately convey the commission’s thoughts in regard to the new venue concepts and locations.If the IOC goes ahead with selection of the host city without following its procedures, the bid campaign that was designed to show that the Olympic organization has been fully reformed will instead be forever scrutinized, whether New York wins the bid or not.Last week in Accra, Ghana, a meeting of the African National Olympic Committees was an important yet frustrating opportunity for the bidders to impress as many as 20 of the 100 voting IOC members – a large number considering that the voting margin in the first round could be miniscule. The challenge at the meeting was dealing with an unpredictable, overzealous moderator who allowed Paris’s presentation to run over the allotted 10-minute window, setting unrealistic expectations when he later chose to enforce the same rule for the other bids.For NYC2012, that meant Mayor Bloomberg was unable to speak to the meeting delegates after taking the time to tell his story to the potential swing voters in Africa. Don’t they know that when the mayor of New York takes valuable time away from his re-election campaign to have a short chat, you let him speak? Apparently, they just weren’t interested.While the other cities seemed equally annoyed at the snubbing of the mayor and the time pressure that was exerted on their own bids, only Madrid took the opportunity to point out New York’s presentation misfortunes in a press release – an unusual and perhaps IOC rule-breaking move that seems way out of place. As the days dwindle and their chance to be the host city look less promising, Madrid’s actions have become more desperate.Meanwhile, as I write this, I am traveling between Paris and London – two cities with very different bids but similar goals and fears. While Paris is proposing a bid with venues close to the center of the city, it plans on developing an Olympic village disconnected from the sport venues. London, on the other hand, is presenting a plan that puts the Athlete’s Village in a cluster with the Olympic Stadium and venues for aquatics, cycling, and other sports. This is a compact plan but one that is located a distance from the city’s center.Both present convincing arguments that they have the best plans for the IOC, and both think they can win. While their most formidable opponents are each other, they share a common fear of the unpredictable – New York, a bid that can flounder or flourish depending on the IOC’s mood of the day.“After all, it’s New York,” I have been told on many occasions from bid insiders, who are suggesting that it’s a bid that can never be completely written off, regardless of what the current venue plans are. NYC2012 represents the United States Olympic Committee and critical sponsors such as NBC – the IOC’s biggest source of revenue.Heading into Singapore for the vote, the picture looks like this: Paris seems to have the emotional support of the IOC, while London has the most to offer technically. Madrid appears to have lost momentum and isn’t measuring up while New York has a plan B that the bid committee admitted isn’t as good as plan A (but don’t forget – New York is New York). Moscow has very little, except perhaps a key that will open the door for the winner.Will Moscow manage to draw enough courtesy votes – early round ballots cast to avoid an embarrassingly poor showing for a bid – to derail one of the major candidates? If so, the race may take on a new complexion that may make, or break, NYC2012.The only thing you can count on for the selection vote is unpredictability.Mr. Livingstone is the producer of GamesBids.com.

Courtesy Votes Could Derail The Major Two

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