By Ryan Tan Jing Min
A delegate of Indonesia has represented the country in choosing the host nation for the 2032 Olympic Games in the International Olympic’s Council (IOC), following an announcement from President Joko Widodo that Indonesia will bid for the 2032 Olympic Games as a host nation.
The conference, which has been going on for two days, consists of delegates from 46 different countries. The conference will continue to go on for the next two days, together with the discussion of the protection of athletes.
“ A story or a movie will be interesting if there is a certain twist in it. This delegate believes Indonesia could be the plot twist of the Olympics’ history” according to the Indonesian delegate in a recent interview with BeritaSatu.
As a country that has never hosted, this is a major step for Indonesia in stepping into the world sporting industry.
What are the criteria for choosing a host country?
Some criteria were discussed during the conference, where some affect certain countries more than others.
One key factor that the delegates agreed on was that the internal, and external security of the nation is essential in making the Olympics happen. Countries that did not have adequate security were heavily objected to in hosting the Olympics while countries with good security were recommended to be the host nation of the Olympics.
Another key factor is sustainability. Sustainability in the Olympics can refer to environmental sustainability, long term infrastructure benefits and usage, and efficient management of resources.
Lastly, past incidents are also taken into consideration. When Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympics, there were boycotts, opposing China due to human rights issues. Such incidents were taken into consideration by the delegates in deciding the host nation to ensure similar incidents will not happen.
Which cities are candidates for the Olympics?
As of the start of the conference, the following cities are candidates for the host the Olympics:
Brisbane, Australia
Shanghai-Hangzhou, China
Rhine-Ruhr, Germany
Jakarta, Indonesia
Madrid, Spain
North-Central Italy, Italy
Montreal-Toronto, Canada
Salla, Finland
Budapest, Hungary
Mumbai, India
Rotterdam-Amsterdam, Netherlands
Doha, Qatar
Istanbul, Turkey
Currently, Brisbane, Australia and Shanghai-Hangzhou, China are the two most popular choices for the 2032 Olympics. Both countries are economically capable, sustainable and have tight securities in past events.
The main difference between Australia and China is that China has weak political ties with other countries and have had boycotts in the Beijing 2008 Olympics, as brought up by many delegates.
Is Indonesia capable of hosting the Olympics?
As a country that has no experience in hosting the Olympics, why is Indonesia so confident?
Indonesia is economically capable of hosting the Olympics, with a GDP of 1.119 trillion USD, as compared to Singapore, with a GDP of 372.1 billion USD, a difference of 740.9 billion USD. With a GDP of 1.119 trillion USD, Indonesia is also not far behind from the top contender, Australia, with a GDP of 1.397 trillion GDP.
Together with the recent success from the ASEAN games, Indonesia has a long history of hosting sporting events in ASEAN and in the Asian region, most of which occur in Jakarta, where the President hopes for the 2032 Olympics to take place. With the experience and infrastructure, the Indonesian government is well prepared to host the 2032 Olympics.
Security in Indonesia has improved over the years. With terrorism being the biggest threat, the Indonesian government have taken steps to reduce terrorism in the country. The number of deaths in recent terror attacks has reduced drastically as compared to previous attacks, with 1 death in the last attack and 0 injured.
With all of these points in mind, it is no wonder that many believe that Indonesia is more than well prepared for hosting the 2032 Olympics.
Why is it taking so long?
With day 3 of the conference ending, the discussions are still moving at a snail’s pace, despite having not one, but two topics to discuss. This begs the question of why the discussions are taking so long?
As the discussion went on, It became apparent that the delegates were going in circles most of the time, often fixated more on attacking others and defending themselves.
Oftentimes, the discussion digressed from choosing the host nation to other topics, with delegates bringing political bias, stereotypes, human rights, congestion levels and extremism to the discussion.
Many times, the chairs have had to step in to lead the discussion back on track, a sight rarely seen in other committees and councils. Furthermore, there was constant misuse of key terms that are commonly used in conferences, despite constant reminders from the dais.
It was only until day three that the focus of the selection widened to other countries apart from China and Australia after the dais urged the delegates to do so.
In a few incidents, the formality between candidates disappeared completely during the discussion, showing the level of professionalism of the delegates.
All these factors severely hindered the selection of the host nation, bringing worries that there will be no time to discuss the second topic, the protection of athletics, which is arguably as equally important as choosing the host nation for the Olympics.
So, who won?
Finally, after 8 rounds of voting and 3 days of discussion, Australia won the bid, despite the aggressive opposition from China.
After 6 rounds of voting, sadly, Indonesia was eliminated from the selection of the host nation. However, the Indonesian delegate believes that this failure is merely a stepping stone for a future, with the knowledge and opinion from the delegates from other countries.