- Title: OLYMPICS-2022/CONTENDERS Beijing and Almaty buoyant after bid presentations
- Date: 9th June 2015
- Summary: LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND (JUNE 9, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE PLANNING AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF BEIJING 2022 BID COMMITTEE ZHANG LI SAYING: "We have a very comprehensive plan, which is a combination of appropriate temperatures, sufficient water supply and reliable snow-making facilities, and also initiatives because of 2022 to make the who
- Embargoed: 24th June 2015 13:00
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- Location: Switzerland
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: General
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- Story Text: The delegations from Beijing and Almaty made their presentations to the IOC on Tuesday (June 9) and afterwards both expressed confidence in their bids to stage the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The vice-chairman of Almaty's bid committee, Andrey Kryukov, said: "We are absolutely confident. We are proud for our presentation and we are proud to be here."
He said the Kazakhstan city would be well practiced for the games, having hosted the Asian Winter Games in 2011 and was hosting the Winter University games in 2017.
"The team for the Olympic Games will be ready four years before the Games, we'll have enough time to improve the quality of the team which will manage Universiade and after that they will manage the Olympic Games.
Asked if Almaty could afford to stage the games he said: "We have money! And we would like to spend it for sports. We would like to bring it to the world society."
Stating he was perfectly confident of winning the bid, Zhang Li, deputy director of the planning and technology department of Beijing's bid said: "We have a very comprehensive plan, which is a combination of appropriate temperatures, sufficient water supply and reliable snow-making facilities, and also initiatives because of 2022 to make the whole area more sustainable."
Human rights activists have already expressed concern about the possibility Beijing will win, with Tibetan groups saying China's rights record disqualifies it.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has overseen a broad crackdown on the country's rights community since he took office in 2013, in what some groups call the worst suppression of dissent in two decades.
While Beijing won acclaim for its successful hosting of the 2008 Olympics, rights groups said the Games were marked by forced evictions - claims angrily dismissed at the time by the government - and other abuses.
The deputy director of the project management and legal affairs department Beijing's bid, Yang Lan, said human rights was not a subject raised during the presentations.
"I do believe that, by hosting another Olympic Games, it's a great enhancement of Human Rights and social progress of China as a whole," she added.
The IOC said last year it would include human rights clauses in new contracts to be signed by future Olympic host cities, strengthening its anti-discrimination policy.
China has provided the IOC with "written assurances" of its respect for human rights as part of its bid to host the winter games in Beijing, an Olympic panel said in a recent report.
The IOC has for years been criticised by human rights groups, especially after awarding the Olympic Games to Beijing in 2008 and Sochi in 2014.
The latter Games were tarnished by a Russian anti-gay propaganda law that opponents said curtailed the rights of homosexuals in the country.
The IOC will pick the winner in July. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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