Bidders Interested in Next Winter YOG

(ATR) Four countries are reportedly interested in bidding for the 2024 Youth Olympic Games.

Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, and Spain have expressed interest in bidding for the event according to a report from Francs Jeux, which quoted an IOC spokesperson as confirmation.

An IOC spokesperson would not confirm the report when asked by Around the Rings, but said that the "2024 YOG host selection process has not yet been established".

"[The process] will not be launched until after Lausanne 2020," the spokesperson added. "In general, a YOG edition is elected 3 years in advance so around 2021 for the YOG 2024."

This week marked the one year to go mark until the third Winter YOG in Lausanne, home of the IOC. Winter YOG events will be spread around Switzerland and France to use existing venues in the area.

For the 2022 YOG, an IOC commission evaluated four bid countries across Africa passing the information to the IOC Executive Board. The EB then made a decision on its preferred candidate, leaving the decision to the IOC Session.

Senegal was selected to host the next Summer YOG through this process.

IOC President Thomas Bach visited Bulgaria last September to discuss a potential 2024 Youth Olympic Games bid. Bulgaria bid for the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics.

Spain had considered multiple Winter Olympic bids before passing on each. Recently the country was singled out by the IOC for refusing to grant visas to athletes from Kosovo, as the country does not recognize Kosovo’s 2008 independence vote. Eventually the IOC worked with Spanish authorities to allow Kosovar athletes to compete.

Romania bid for the 2020 Winter YOG, but lost to Lausanne 71-10 in an election by the IOC Session in 2015.

Russia could be viewed as a controversial choice by the IOC for the 2024 YOG as the fallout from the state sponsored doping scandal has not been fully resolved. However, Bach said in his New Year’s address that the IOC considers all matters with the Russian Olympic Committee to be fully resolved, and any sanction would come from outside organizations.

"The IOC sanctioned those entities involved, proportional to their levels of responsibility," Bach said in his New Year’s statement.

"With its suspension from the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, the Russian Olympic Committee has served its sanction, while in other organizations procedures are still ongoing."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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