After Beijing police raided an anti-discrimination group, an official said that the IOC "received non-discrimination assurances from Beijing and Almaty's bids to host the 2022 Winter Olympics," according to Ben Blanchard of REUTERS. The IOC said last year that "it would include human rights clauses in new contracts to be signed by future Olympic host cities, strengthening its anti-discrimination policy." Chinese police this week "raided the office of a prominent non-governmental organisation in Beijing, a group which works to banish gender, HIV and other forms of discrimination." IOC Sports Director Christophe Dubi, speaking in Beijing at the end of an inspection tour for the city's bid, said that "he had read reports of the raid." Dubi said, "Obviously our mandate is around the hosting of the Games, and it makes no doubt that non-discrimination is important" (REUTERS, 3/28). BLOOMBERG reported Beijing "pledged to hold costs down after hosting a team" from the IOC. The Beijing 2022 Bid Committee said in an earlier statement that "the organizing committee’s operating costs" will be $1.6B and the infrastructure budget will be $1.5B. That is "lower than the only other bidder, Almaty, which projects overall spending" of $3.5B. Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun, who is also head of the bid committee, said, "We compiled the budget plan in a scientific way, sticking to the principle of feasibility and prudence. We will make full use of existing facilities, strictly control the cost of holding the games and the cost of construction" (BLOOMBERG, 3/28). REUTERS' Karolos Grohmann wrote senior bid official Wu Jingmi said that Beijing's Olympic experience and infrastructure "are key in delivering a successful 2022 winter Games," also pledging free Internet during the event. The bid's deputy secretary general said that the use of the venues from the 2008 Games fit with the IOC's Agenda 2020 "reforms of keeping costs low and using more existing or temporary venues." The IOC "will elect the winning bid in July at its session in Malaysia with Beijing pitching access to a growing winter sports market" (REUTERS, 3/27).
