IOC chief: Small nations like New Zealand could host games

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach says there’s no reason a small nation such as New Zealand shouldn’t aspire to host the Olympics.Bach, who is on a tour through the South Pacific, received a powhiri – or traditional welcome – from indigenous Maori in Auckland on Tuesday before saying: ”The Olympic Games are universal and we should open doors and windows” to allow all nations that wish to host the games to try to do so.”I think the Olympic Agenda is opening doors for other countries than the traditional host countries,” he said. ”We think you cannot reserve the right to host the Olympic Games just to 20 countries in the world.”Bach oversaw the implementation of the Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms in December to make the requirements on potential host cities less onerous and allow for the possibility of two countries co-hosting the games.New Zealand, which has a population of nearly 4.5 million, has never hosted the Olympics, but neighboring Australia has twice staged the Summer Games, most recently at Sydney in 2000. A few countries with small populations such as Norway and Greece have hosted the games recently, but none outside Europe.”What we are doing… Read full this story

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