Panel launched to study co-hosting 2020 Olympic Games+

HIROSHIMA, Oct. 31 Kyodo -
A panel to study the feasibility of Hiroshima and Nagasaki co-hosting the 2020
Summer Olympic Games was launched Saturday, with an eye to agreeing on a basic
vision by the end of this year.
''We want to clarify our philosophy in November and address specific problems
in December,'' said Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, who became chairman of the
panel.
At the first meeting of the panel held in Hiroshima, the city of Kitakyushu
also joined the panel although it will not seek to co-host the Olympics.
Since the International Olympic Committee has shown a negative stance on cities
co-hosting the Olympics, the panel will study the possibility of a joint bid
and how to finance the event and will reach a conclusion by next spring on
whether to make a joint bid.
==Kyodo