The Madrid 2020 Olympic bid "is not among the cities favored by betting houses." Tokyo is the current favorite to host the Olympics and Istanbul is the second option preferred. For bookmaker William Hill, Tokyo is paying out at 1.5-1, Istanbul at 3.75-1 and Madrid at 5.4-1. For Ladbroke, Tokyo bets are paying out at 1.44-1, with Istanbul at 4-1 and Madrid at 6-1. Tokyo is "also preferred by other betting houses including PartyBets, Interwetten, 188Bet, Betathome, Betfair and Boylesports." One "should remember that in elections for the 2012 and 2016 Olympic host sites, the betting house favorites, Paris for '12 and Chicago for '16, did not win the elections" (LIBERTAD DIGITAL, 8/28). ... Enfield Cricket Club in England "is one of the oldest cricket clubs in the south-east and has received" £20,000 ($31,000) from Sport England’s "Inspired Facilities" fund, part of the Olympic and Paralympic legacy scheme (ENFIELD INDEPENDENT, 8/29). ... Taiwan's contender for the IOC's presidency "is popular among the six-man race, according to unfinished online polls." A survey by sports website aroundtherings.com shows that Wu Ching-kuo, 66, has garnered 43.76% of the votes cast in the popularity rating so far, "leading the second-highest hopeful," Ukraine's Sergey Bubka, 49, by 14.24 percentage points (CNA, 8/29).
