Olympics: IOC evaluation team impressed with Tokyo bid+

TOKYO, April 19 Kyodo -
An evaluation team of the International Olympic Committee gave Tokyo a rosy
report Sunday for its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, but stopped short
of laying out in detail how the four-day inspection will influence their final
decision.

Chairwoman Nawal El Moutawakel said the inspectors were most impressed by the
concept of hosting a compact Games, in which 97 percent of the venues would be
located within 8 kilometers of the Olympic Stadium.
''We were very impressed by the vision and the high quality of the
presentation,'' said Moutawakel, a gold medalist for Morocco in hurdles at the
1984 Los Angeles Olympics. ''We were also impressed by the concept that was
presented to us regarding the Tokyo bid.''
Tokyo is vying for the 2016 Olympics against Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and
Madrid. The evaluation team visited Chicago earlier this month and the IOC will
make a final vote to select a city on Oct. 2 in Copenhagen.
Moutawakel did not delve into any particulars and refrained from addressing any
shortcomings in the Tokyo candidature, except to say that a report will be
ready by Sept. 2.
An IOC poll that was taken about support for the Games among the four cities
has not been disclosed.
''We were given loads of information. It will be difficult for us now to
disclose all of it. But we were very comfortable with what was given to us.
Tokyo did really well in the first stage and we will further study the
documents that were given to us in these four days,'' she said.
Amid the global economic downturn, the Japanese government has said it will
fully back Tokyo's bid from a financial standpoint.
The city has already secured a special 400 billion yen budget for the Games.
The Japanese Olympic Committee has said that six companies, including
automobile giant Toyota Motor Corp., have agreed to join its new ''JOC Gold
Partnership Program.''
The corporations, which also include Asahi Breweries Ltd. and mobile phone
operator NTT DoCoMo Inc., will pay a combined total of 600 million yen over
four years for the first-class corporate sponsorship of sporting events
connected with the Olympic movement.
''We have been given assurances regarding the financial aspects. We will study
the guarantees carefully to do our final report,'' Moutawakel said.
Moutawakel said the evaluation team was also convinced of the legacy of the
Olympic Stadium, which would seat 100,000 people, and other proposed venues for
the Games.
The evaluation team did not give the Tokyo bid committee any advice but raised
questions throughout the inspections.
''By the questions we raised it is obvious that the organizing committee will
take some conclusions of what we've been saying,'' said IOC Olympic Games
Executive Director Gilbert Felli.
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who is president of the Tokyo 2016 bid committee,
said, ''I am very satisfied. We were able to fully respond to their difficult
questions. I am fully confident that the IOC members were able to fully
understand the vision and concept, which is excellent in the bid for Tokyo.''
The 13-member IOC evaluation team visited several of the proposed venue sites
while also examining the city's infrastructure and transportation network.
The inspection team was met with a small group of protestors at the site for
the Olympic Stadium on Friday, chanting slogans such as ''Instead of hosting
the Olympics build hospitals'' and ''Don't force children to promote the
Olympics.'' A group of about 400 students turned out at the same site in
support of the Games.
Rio de Janeiro will be evaluated next, followed by Madrid.
==Kyodo