IOC's Bach attends football match between athletes and refugees in Paris

Record ID: 83114

  • Title: IOC's Bach attends football match between athletes and refugees in Paris
  • Date: 2nd October 2016
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 2, 2016) (REUTERS) INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) PRESIDENT, THOMAS BACH AND PARIS MAYOR, ANNE HIDALGO, ON FOOTBALL PITCH, BACH KICKING BALL TO EACH OTHER (SOUNDBITE) (English) PARIS MAYOR, ANNE HIDALGO, SAYING: "We are very proud to have this moment with the president of IOC in Paris. Paris is a very great city, we have great union [unity] about the bid for 2024 and I think the President Bach can tell you now what his views are here in Paris." EIFFEL TOWER / FOOTBALL MATCH BETWEEN REFUGEES AND ATHLETES BEING PLAYED HIDALGO AND BACH WATCHING GAME VARIOUS OF FOOTBALL MATCH BACH AND HIDALGO TALKING PLAYER ON FIELD (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) PRESIDENT, THOMAS BACH, SAYING: "Unfortunately we're living in a world where all big events, where even normal citizens, have to live with this threat of terrorism and this is true for every country in the world. So what is important is to see how the countries are dealing with this challenge. And there, nobody knows how the world looks like in seven years from now, security-wise, and on the other hand France has shown with the recent organisation of the Euro [football tournament] that they can deal with security challenges." FOOTBALL MATCH BEING PLAYED PARALYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST, ARNAUD ASSOUMANI, DURING FOOTBALL MATCH VARIOUS OF (FROM L-R) PARIS 2024 CO-CHAIRMAN AND TRIPLE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST, TONY ESTANGUET, BACH, HIDALGO AND FORMER INTERNATIONAL RUGBY BOARD CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH COMMITTEE FOR INTERNATIONAL SPORTS, BERNARD LAPASSET, STANDING FOR PICTURES
  • Embargoed: 17th October 2016 17:15
  • Keywords: Olympics Paris 2024 bid summer Thomas Bach Anne Hidalgo refugees football IOC
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE
  • City: PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Olympics,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA00152B9Q9Z
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach attended a football match between refugees and athletes on Sunday (October 2), as he completed a two-day visit to France's capital to meet Paris' Olympic bid committee for the 2024 summer Olympics.
    The bid is spearheaded by French former athletes including triple Olympic champion canoeist, Tony Estanguet.
    Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has promised that new sports facilities and housing developments in Paris's outer ring would leave a lasting legacy, and that the games proposal tapped into the desire for more sober, ecological propositions from the IOC.
    "We are very proud to have this moment with the president of IOC in Paris. Paris is a very great city, we have great union [unity] about the bid for 2024," she told reporters at the football match held at the Emile Anthoine sports centre in Paris.
    Several events would take place at prestigious venues such as the Stade de France (athletics), Roland Garros (tennis) and the Bercy Arena (basketball).
    Temporary structures would be situated in historic locations, with equestrian events being held at the Palace of Versailles and beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
    Los Angeles and Budapest are the only other candidates left in the running to host the 2024 Games after Virginia Raggi pulled the plug on Rome's bid shortly after being elected mayor of the Italian capital. Boston and Hamburg had already abandoned their bids.
    Earlier on in the day, Bach met with French President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace where the head of state said should Paris be selected to host the 2024 Olympics, France is well equipped to stage a safe Games because of the security measures that are in place after the recent terror attacks.
    "Nobody knows how the world looks like in seven years from now security wise and on the other hand France has shown with the recent organisation fo the Euro that they can deal with security challenges," Bach told reporters at the later football match.
    France has been struck by a series of attacks in the past 20 months, with 130 being killed in coordinated assaults claimed by the Islamic State in Paris on Nov. 13 last year before a truck attacker killed 84 in Nice on Bastille Day this year.
    Paris last hosted the Games in 1924 having lost out to Barcelona (1992), Beijing (2008) and London (2012).
    The host city will be elected in Lima on September 13, 2017.
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