Johannesburg, Oct 29 (AP) Durban is South Africa ‘s preferred candidate to host the first Olympics in Africa.
South Africa is bidding to host the 2036 or 2040 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The International Olympic Committee will choose the host city for 2036 in mid-2029.
The country’s choice to put forward Durban, South Africa’s third biggest city, was announced by South African Olympic committee acting president Lwandile Simelane on Thursday. She said Durban would be the main candidate city for South Africa’s bid, but it would likely be a “multi-city bid” that would propose some events are held in other cities.
South Africa’s economic hub of Johannesburg and Cape Town were also considered as the candidate city.
Durban, a city of around 4 million on the subtropical Indian Ocean coast, was touted as a possible Olympic host city more than a decade ago following South Africa’s staging of the 2010 soccer World Cup, the first in Africa. But an official bid didn’t materialize then, largely due to concerns over costs.
The city was stripped of hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games because it couldn’t make financial or other guarantees required for that event.
Officials said on Thursday they were not yet able to provide any estimates regarding how much it might cost South Africa to stage the Olympics if its bid was successful. They said Durban’s bid would be centered on the 56,000-seat Moses Mabhida Stadium, which was built for the 2010 World Cup.
South Africa is among seven countries bidding for the 2036 Games. The others are India, Qatar, South Korea, Germany, Hungary and Turkey.
The IOC gave Oct. 31 as the deadline for national Olympic committees to formally declare their interest in bidding for the 2036 Games.
Candidates have an opportunity to make virtual presentations to the IOC next month to start the official bidding process. A key date is in March, the IOC has said, when its board will approve a shortlist of candidates.
South Africa would be a first African host of the Summer Games since the modern Olympics was created in 1896 if it wins. Africa’s biggest economy previously failed with a bid to stage the 2004 Games in Cape Town.
The Youth Olympics open this weekend in Dakar, Senegal, marking the first Olympic sports event to be held in Africa.
(PTI News)
