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Sarkozy to Doha Forum: Why Do the Olympics Have to Cling to August in the Sports Calendar? |
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Olympics - 11 Dec 2012 - Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, today made a surprise intervention into the debate over the scheduling of the Olympic Games and other major sports events, including soccer’s World Cup, questioning why they have to be staged in August and June, respectively, making it difficult for countries with high temperatures at those times of year to act as hosts.
Sarkozy was speaking on the second day of the three-day Doha Goals forum in the Qatari capital, which earlier this year failed to gain inclusion on the shortlist of cities bidding to host the 2020 Olympic Games, with the International Olympic Committee pointing to scheduling problems for broadcasters if, as Doha proposed, the games were held in October to avoid the worst of Qatar’s summer heat.
Qatar has, however, controversially been chosen to host the Fifa World Cup in 2022 and there have been calls for the event to be moved to December of January to enable it to take place in more temperate conditions.
In a 20-minute speech this morning, Sarkozy asked: “Is it indispensable for the Olympic Games, which take place every four years, to cling to the month of August? Would they be any less exciting if they were held in June? And the World Cup, does it have to take place in June? Is our view of this event so fragile? Would an adjustment of a few weeks bring down the columns of the temple?
“I say this because there are countries where the heat is insupportable [at these times of year]. The calendar isn’t the be-all and end-all. It can be adapted.”
However, Sebastian Coe, chair of the organising committee for this summer’s Olympic Games in London, who followed Sarkozy onto the podium, demurred, saying: “The question of the calendar is not so simple as this. You have to look at the globalisation of sport, with its various championships.”
Sportcal
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