SINGAPORE : Singapore’s attempt to bid for the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games is heating up.
A five-member delegation is in Lausanne, Switzerland, for a two-day workshop from September 18-19, for candidate cities.
Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Teo Ser Luck is leading the delegation as advisor to the Singapore Bid Committee.
According to the Ministry, participation in the workshop marks an important milestone in Singapore’s bid development process.
Mr Teo said that over the coming months, Singapore will present its bid and showcase why it is the best city to host the Youth Olympic Games.
The Bid committee is working closely with the International Olympic Committee Member in Singapore, Mr Ng Ser Miang, to come up with innovative and exciting proposals to strengthen the Olympic Movement among young people both in Singapore and around the world.
If Singapore succeeds, it would bring 3,500 of the world’s best athletes and 875 officials from about 200 IOC member countries here.
Besides Singapore, 10 other cities are also in the running to host the Games.
These include Moscow, Athens and Bangkok.
Other cities are Algiers in Algeria, Serbia in Belgrade, Debreceu in Hungary, Guatemala, Kuala Lumpur, Poznan in Poland and Turin in Italy.
Shortlisted candidate cities will be made known in November while the winning bid will be announced in February next year.
Speaking on the phone from Lausanne, Mr Teo said, “The Singapore team is here to understand what the Olympic Games is about, the background, the rationale for the games and the selection criteria of selecting the (city) that’s going to host this first Youth Olympic Games. Singapore, so far so good, our confidence is still intact and I think we are going to work hard and do a very good job at the bid.” – CNA/ms
Channel News Asia
