Delegates from the 2009 World Championships Bidding Cities in Monaco - 27 May 2004 (© IAAF)
Representatives from six cities bidding to host the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics, gathered in Monaco today to meet the Directors and Staff of the various IAAF Departments, and to receive the technical information on which they should base their respective bids.
The venue of the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics will be decided by the IAAF Council in Helsinki, Finland on 4-5 December 2004.
A total gathering of 23 delegates from the bidding cities were welcomed by IAAF President Lamine Diack who gave the opening address. IAAF General Secretary Istvan Gyulai then outlined some crucial general information, which headed a list of fourteen other speeches covering a wide range of topics, from Accreditation to Technology, the ‘what to do’ and ‘what not to do’ of any successful World Championship bid.
The bidding process so far
All IAAF Member Federations were informed about the basic conditions of bidding 2 December 2003. Since then 8 IAAF Member Federations sent Letters of Intent by 31 January 2004:
AUS (Brisbane), BEL (Brussels), CRO (Split), ESP (Valencia), GER (Berlin), IND (New Delhi), KOR (Daegu), MAR (Casablanca).
NB. Brisbane and New Delhi have since withdrawn, with the intention of bidding for the World Championships on a future occasion.
The final bidding schedule now follows
30 June 2004 (Monaco time) - Return of completed Bid documents
July/August 2004 - Bid documents will be evaluated
September/October 2004 – Visit of IAAF Evaluation Team
Berlin? Brussels? Casablanca? Daegu? Split? Valencia?
We – and the World – will know on 4-5 December 2004.
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In alphabetical order we bring you some comments from the six bidding cities:
Berlin – Long tradition and most advanced stadium in the world
“The heart of the World Championships is the stadium and Berlin has the most advanced stadium in the world, and we feel no other candidate for 2009 can offer such an asset. With an underground training track beneath the arena, the athletes will be able to practise and warm-up in the venue itself, and when it comes to the time to compete, they are able to appear on the track and infield without any effort. Entirely roofed tribunes for the main spectator seats and 124 VIP lounges in the stadium also make the possibilities for the audience second to none.”
“To fill the stadium we of course count on the superb tradition of Athletics in Germany because after football, Athletics remains the nation’s most popular sport. We also count upon our vast experience at holding major championship events to make sure the overall organisation runs smoothly.”
“We have 2600 athlete beds centred in one location with just a 20 minutes metro ride to the stadium in dedicated ‘athlete only’ trains. We understand that athletes want to compete but also spend recreational time together, which is an important aspect of competing in a World Championships, as the whole world is united together.”
We have found this meeting in Monaco very useful. Close contact with the specialists in the IAAF is very important to us, a time to ask specific questions and a learning process as well.”
Brussels – we have re-invented Athletics as a show
“The city of Brussels has a very long and successful tradition of organising sporting events. We cannot think of any other country that has organised so many Athletics World Championships in the last 5 years. We have successfully held the European Indoors, the World Cross Country twice, the World Half Marathon and annually we are blessed with the best one-day meeting in the world the Ivo Van Damme Golden League.”
“Our people love the sport; we have exceptional facilities for which the government has already granted further development; we have very knowledgeable officials and an extremely good relationship with the institutional bodies.
“Brussels is a multicultural haven with a bilingual population and a strategic geographical position – 60 millions people live within 1.30 hours of Brussels. We have accommodation facilities and a very good public transport network. Belgium is also at the peak of the audiovisual technology with the two leading companies providing footage and slow motion in the Athens Olympic Games both being Belgian.
“But most of all the people of Brussels are friendly and charming and let us not forget that we are the pioneers of the “Spectacle of Athletics”. Wilfried Meert – director of the Van Damme meeting - is the one who invented the concept of showcasing track and field as a great show and we might still come up with greater inventions!”
Casablanca – Not a Moroccan bid, an African bid
“Casablanca is bidding to host the 2009 World Championships in Athletics because we feel we have something to give to the world. We have been part of the great family of Athletics for many years now and we know that Morocco can help the world of Athletics.
“We have already organised three successful World Championships including the World Cross Country Championships in 1998 when we already showed the world the cultural uniqueness of our country and its civilisation.
“Next year we will organise the World Youth Championships in Marrakech and yet again we are aiming at sharing our land and traditions with the children who will travel the world to come to our country. We want it to be like a dream come true for those children travelling from Oceania or the Americas. They will discover a different world. And Casablanca in 2009 will hopefully follow in this spirit of cultural exchange.
“Our candidature is not that of Morocco alone but that of the whole African Confederation from whom we have received full support and backing. We want to try and give something unique to the World Athletics Championships which have never so far been held in Africa.”
Daegu - the most economic and efficient championships
“The presentations today in Monaco have been very systematic, informative and will be very helpful to the process of formulating our bid document.”
“Sport and the holding of major championships has a very high status in our country and we have a long and trusted record in hosting major championships including the Olympic, Asian and World University Games among the many high profile sporting events with which we have been entrusted.”
“Athletics though could and must be brought to a much higher level of appreciation in the minds of the Korean public and this aim is one of the central aspects of why we are bidding to host the World Championships. There is a high image gained from hosting such major worldwide sporting festivals and as with the World University Games which took place in Daegu last summer, our citizen’s feel an increased sense of pride in these events.”
“We have a very high level of organisational knowledge acquired from previous championships but also we benefit from the infrastructure of our 70,000 seater stadium and warm-up facilities which are not only already in place but having also hosted major sporting events. Similarly we have the transport and logistics experience, and can call upon the 16,000 volunteers who worked on the University Games as another proven resource.”
“Within our bid we want to offer economic help to the world’s under-developed countries, and to offer the most economic and efficient championships possible which by bringing the world together, can aid world peace.”
Split – We have the heart to deliver
“We are a small city, perhaps the smallest of the bidders for the 2009 World Championships but we offer the Athletics world a vast amount of organisational experience. The European Championships in Split in 1990 will be remembered very well, and we have hosted the Mediterranean Games, and international championships in Swimming, Water Polo, Sailing, Tennis…We are a sporting city in which people are prepared to expend every effort to give the athletes, spectators, officials, media…a well ordered championships where everything promised will be fulfilled.
“Split has the heart and the spirit to deliver a great World Championships. It is a spirit which derives out of our very special micro-climate of sporting success in this region of Croatia. In our history we can boast 52 international championship medallists across a number of sports who have come from the Split region alone. For instance Igor Boraska who won a Olympic rowing medal is one of a very select group of people to have competed in both the summer and winter Olympic Games, as he also took part in the Bobsleigh.”
“Split is a sports oriented city, whose bid is part of a long term process to advance Athletics, and whatever result occurs in this bid process if Athletics grows in popularity, then we the citizen’s of Split have won. Also, we have an excellent stadium and a sports village which can accommodate 3000 athletes in a safe and secure environment.”
“The visit to Monaco has been very worth while, a valuable experience. We are not ashamed to ask plenty of questions and we wish and intend to learn fast, as it is always useful to hear other opinions and ideas because however experienced in organising sporting championships there are always new developments of which to take account.”
Valencia – A new stadium for the Worlds
“The 2009 World Championships in Athletics would be like the final event of a long-term strategy and involvement in sport for the city and the people of Valencia. We have a great tradition of organising sport events in Spain and more specifically in Valencia where several World class events including the more recent European Championships in 1998 have already been organised.”
“Valencia has exceptional infrastructures which are constantly being upgraded and the city’s ability to successfully organise world class event is undeniable. This has been proved by the recent attribution of the Copa America event to Valencia which we feel gives a lot of credit to our city.”
“We are planning to build a new stadium in Valencia which is scheduled to be ready by 2008. The European Champions of Valencia football club would compete in the new stadium for one season before the facilities are fully dedicated to Athletics in 2009 for the World Championships. The stadium will have a capacity of over 50,000.”
“The third most important city in Spain in terms of population, Valencia is also very well known for its great hospitability and is one of the most sought after tourist destinations in Europe.”
