Is this an effect of the start of the school year? In a few days, two new countries have chosen to come out of the woodwork to announce, in their own way, an Olympic candidacy project. Two countries that separate everything, except the common desire to one day soon be able to seize the five rings of the Games with both hands.
Egypt spoke first. Visiting Cairo, as part of a tour begun earlier in Palestine, Israel and Jordan, Thomas Bach was told by the head of state, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, that Egypt was going to offer as host of the Summer Games in 2036. The IOC President was prepared for this, the media having preceded the official announcement. True to form, he did not discourage anyone. “Egypt has strong sports infrastructure and if it can host the Games it will be historic for it“, he assured during a press conference. Difficult to say less.
Credible? On paper, the Egyptian file is not the favorite. He plans for the Games to revolve around the new administrative capital, a pharaonic project located around fifty kilometers from Cairo. Suffice to say that the page is still blank. Not ideal in an Olympic universe where the recycling of existing sites has become a golden rule. But nothing is ever set in stone when it comes to an Olympic bid.
Another file: Germany. A regular. But, less flattering, a regular also of applications entered at the stand before the finish line. Hamburg 2024, Munich 2022, two candidates arrested for failing to convince public opinion to support their cause.
This time, Germany is seeing double, and even triple. The president of the national Olympic committee (DOSB), Thomas Weikert, explained earlier this week to Sportchau that several options were on the table. The most immediate concerns the Winter Games in 2034. Another targets the Summer Games in 2036. “ But 2040 would also be a possibility, of course“, confided the German leader, former president of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
The message is clear: Germany wants the Olympic and Paralympic Games, fifty years after Munich 1972. Winter or summer, it doesn't matter. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we'll see. “ But as soon as possible“, insists Thomas Weikert.
With such a strategy, Germany is not denying itself anything. But it also complicates the task. He has to decide between winter and summer, decide on an edition, and above all find the right city. Thomas Weikert agrees: “ The dialogue process will take a year and a half, two years, in any case until after the Paris 2024 Games. We will then summarize and see if we apply and, in the event of a positive decision, with whom we apply. We will not commit in advance. New IOC guidelines give us more flexibility"
Problem at hand: opinion. Thomas Weikert still refuses to put forward the name of a city or an edition to be favored, but he already assures that the population will be consulted. “ We want to ask everyone, especially the most critical, he explained to Sportchau. People must be taken into account and heard"
The intention is laudable, but past experience and examples have proven that it is also often suicidal. Germany has never lacked arguments, especially with Hamburg 2024, but its latest Olympic dreams have all been swallowed up in the referendum ballot boxes where the opponents were the most numerous to vote, if not really in the majority.
The only certainty: Thomas Bach will no longer be president of the IOC when Germany has finished its consultation/discussion/decision process. He will have returned his keys and his badge in 2025, after twelve years of reign. But his withdrawal will not necessarily be a handicap for his own country. President, he would have been forced to remain neutral. Former president, he will be able to influence behind the scenes, or even on the front line.
