With no competition left, the IOC is asking both Paris ’24 and LA ’28 to scale back their travel and presentation plans for the upcoming formal session in Lima, Peru, hoping to cut costs and underline the notion that both cities are winners. Sources said the IOC wants bid delegations to be capped at 50 people instead of 100 and to only have seven on-stage presenters instead of 15. Also, the IOC wants each group to make just a single 25-minute presentation with no questions and not to bother with newly created videos. This would be a stark departure from past Olympic bid votes, which drew costly, intense lobbying efforts from the cities. The U.S. delegation with the failed Chicago ’16 bid was nearly 300 people strong, not including then-President Obama. L.A. last week struck a deal with the IOC to drop its bid for the ’24 Games and take ’28 instead, leaving the Sept. 13 meeting with little drama. An IOC rep said the parties are still finalizing the three-way agreement allowing for the dual award to proceed, but acknowledged their hope to shrink the event. “Should this be achieved, it would clearly change the way the day of 13 September will be conducted,” the spokesperson said. “As such, the IOC is currently in discussions with the cities to ensure this moment can be properly marked and celebrated, whilst at the same time being mindful of costs -- reducing the cost of bidding being one of the recommendations of Olympic Agenda 2020.”
ISSUES TO WATCH: Another concern is how the event will be stage-managed to avoid the impression that Paris won and L.A. lost. The IOC is pushing to have a joint press conference and seat the bid groups near each other. Sources have said that L.A. wants an understated affair, while Paris was looking for a bigger celebration. French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week said he would not fly to Peru with the Paris contingent. None of the protocol details are finalized, and still could change as the parties continue to make plans, sources said.
