Jakarta, 23 July (Reuters) - The committee's chairman stated that Indonesia's National Olympic Committee intends to submit a bid to host the summer Olympics in 2036 despite losing out this week to Brisbane's bid to host the Games in 2032.
"We will still pursue our plan to host the games in 2036," Bambang Supriyadi said at a press conference on Thursday. "We are not worried about what other countries might do."
Indonesia last hosted the Olympics in 2004 when they were held in Athens. They lost out to Beijing which went on to become the first country to host the event three times.
The Jakarta Organizing Committee for the 20th SEA Games announced on Wednesday that Brisbane had been chosen over Jakarta as the Australian city was deemed to be better equipped to stage the event.
Brisbane has already hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1884 and 1920, while Jakarta has never before held a major sporting event.
Both cities have proposed hosting various sports including athletics, basketball, boxing, lawn bowls, swimming, tennis and weightlifting. But only two cities can win one of these events so both Jakarta and Brisbane will need to hope they are not chosen next year.
The decision by the Southeast Asian body is final and cannot be appealed.
Indonesia made the 2032 Olympics candidacy official on February 19, 2019, when letters from President Joko Widodo and the Indonesian Olympic Committee were handed to the IOC in Lausanne. Indonesia is the first country to make an announcement after the deadline had passed.
The nation's bid was met with criticism from some corners, including members of the Indonesian Olympic team who felt that their efforts would have been better spent at the 2020 Tokyo Games. However, Indonesia's decision to bid again shows that they believe they can deliver a successful event.
In July 2017, the government announced that it would seek to host the games. The announcement came less than three months after Jakarta failed to win rights to hold the 2019 World Championships in Athletics. At the time, President Joko Widodo said that Indonesia needed to prove itself capable of staging large-scale events like this one. "We must continue to work hard to show our people we can successfully organize such big projects," he said.
Indonesia has not hosted a major sporting event since the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. They hope to change that when the world returns home in eight years' time.
At least three additional towns, including Sapporo, Japan, Vancouver, Canada, and Barcelona, Spain, have indicated interest in 2030. All have already hosted the Olympics. While the IOC has already picked Brisbane, Australia, as the host city for the 2032 Summer Olympics, no date has been set for the 2030 selection under a new, less formal bid procedure.
The deadline to submit bids was January 15, 2013. The winner will be chosen by an official vote of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at its meeting in Lima, Peru, in September 2013.
On January 7, 2013, Tokyo announced it would not pursue the 2020 Olympics. This leaves Seoul as the only candidate city for 2020. The decision not to bid for 2020 affects the ability of Japanese athletes to compete under their national flag at the Olympics. Japan's government has refused to pay the required entry fee for losing the bid. However, officials claim that because Tokyo did not win the bid, it is not financially responsible for the loss.
Seoul would become the second South Korean city after Incheon to host the Olympics. It would also be the first time the country hosts the event twice. Incheon successfully staged the 1988 Summer Games.
There are concerns about whether Seoul can deliver on its promises of improved transportation infrastructure and security after recent scandals have tarnished the image of the government. A presidential election is scheduled for February 25, 2014.
The following four Olympic host cities have been announced. Beijing, which hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008, will host the Winter Olympics in 2022, which will begin in February. The Summer Olympics will be held in Paris in 2024, followed by the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, in 2026. Athens has been awarded the Summer Games in 2028.
Tokyo was supposed to host the Summer Olympics in 1940 but due to World War II they were postponed until 1948. The city has been trying to win back the honor since 1955 when Los Angeles became the first Western city to be selected as host country. But due to financial problems Los Angeles could not host the event and Tokyo was approved as replacement. The Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo for the second time after World War II.
Since 1952 when Helsinki received the right to hold the Olympics, all other cities have been required to pay to participate. According to the IOC, the total cost of hosting a games is around $5 billion. In addition to the price of holding the event, each city also charges a fee that covers costs such as security, transportation, and public relations.
Hamburg, Rome, Barcelona, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco, and Denver are some other cities who have tried to host the Olympics. But none of them have been successful enough to hold their own event yet.
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