Committee Simulation

Introduction to Committee
Founded in 1894, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was created in an
attempt to revive the Olympic games. It took a sizeable amount of effort and
resources, but the man behind the project, Pierre de Coubertin, was determined
to make it happen. It only took him two years after his announcement in 1892
to build the IOC. It took creating an international movement and employing a
number of people to completely
form the committee, but in the
end, Coubertin succeeded. After
that, it only took two more years
of planning to host the first ever
modern Olympic games, held on
the 6th of April 1896, in its
historic home of Athens.

Since then, the global drive for

Olympic games has only Source: IOC

increased, with multiple different versions of the

Olympic games being held, ensuring the inclusion of as many different sports as
possible, not to mention the inclusion of as many different races and
nationalities as possible, even holding the Paralympics, a version of the
Olympics meant for people with various disabilities and ailments. This would
guarantee worldwide presence and engagement.

The IOC is built upon the Olympic charter and functions under its bylaws. First
published in 1908, it included some entries originally drafted by Coubertin in
1898, as well as several new ones made with the general agreement of the rest
of the committee. The charter has undergone multiple amendments and
changes, even changing names throughout, and although the phrase Olympic
Charter is used to describe all the iterations as a whole, that did not become the
official name until 1978, with the first name being given to it initially in 1908
being Annuaire du Comité International Olympique. It also has been released a
few times as separate chapters and not a whole publication. As of the 26th of
June 2019, the current Olympic charter contains 61 rules delineating the normal
functioning of the committee and Olympic games, divided into six chapters over
106 pages. This charter was amended and put into place following the most
recent session, held in Lausanne, Switzerland, with it being the 134th session
that the IOC held. This session amended or modified the entries of 31 rules
and/or their bylaws.

The IOC’s main goal is to promote the 7 goals of Olympism, as stated in the
Charter, as well as supporting and endorsing the global growth of sports and
tolerance and acceptance through sports. The IOC strongly believes in equal
opportunity for all, no matter what race, gender or disability, and uses the
Olympic Games as a device to push these ideals. The IOC is a non-profit
organization and has been cited multiple times as saying that it believes that all
should have access to sports, and building off that principle, the IOC works with
multiple different organizations and committees to guarantee global engagement.
The aptly named “Olympic family” consists of many different bodies besides the
IOC, including but not limited to the International Sports Federations (IFs) and
National Olympic Committees (NOCs), also working with athletes and
individuals, and even sometimes with some UN bodies, all to promise the world
a great Olympic games experience.

The number of members in the committee is variable and changes from year to
year and session to session. Since 1999, the maximum total number of members
has been limited to 115, divided into a maximum of 70 individual members, 15
active athletes, 15 representatives from Ifs and 15 from NOCs. Each potential
member’s file gets examined by the IOC Members Election Commission, then is
sent to the Executive Board of the IOC, at which point they are shown to the rest
of the committee and are voted upon by a secret ballot.

The Executive Board consists of 15 members, headed by the President, a person

who is the representative of the IOC internationally and oversees all the
committee’s operations, with the current one being Thomas Bach, who has been
in office since the 10th of September 2013. The term of a president used to be
undefined, but as of 1999, the term has been set to a default of eight years, with
a potential renewal once every four years of the term have passed. The rest of
the members of the Executive Board are on a four-year rotation, and are divided
into four Vice-Presidents and ten members.

Rules Of Procedure

The International Olympic Committee will operate on the basis of the regular
rules of procedure with no adjustments. A summary of the regular rules has
been included below:

The rules of procedure are of three types: Motions (Verbal and Written), Points
and Yields.

Verbal Motions

1. Motion To Set The Speakers List: “Country X motions to set the

Speakers List to Y seconds” This Motion Requires a Simple Majority.

2. Motion to Suspend the Debate: The debate can be suspended to move

into a moderated caucus, an unmoderated caucus, the solicitation of third
parties, a consultation of the whole or holding member states accountable.

a. Moderated Caucus: “Country X motions to suspend the debate to

move into a moderated caucus to discuss Y for a total time of Z
 minutes and speakers time of V seconds”. This Motion Requires a
Simple Majority.
b. Unmoderated Caucus: “Country X motions to suspend the debate
to move into an unmoderated caucus to Y for a total time of Z
minutes”. This Motion Requires a Simple Majority.
c. Solicit Third Parties: “Country X motions to suspend the debate to
solicit Y, knowing that this third party is an expert in the field, for a
speaker's time of Z seconds.” This Motion Requires a Simple
Majority.
d. Consultation of the Whole: “Country X motions to suspend the
debate to move into a consultation of the whole, to discuss [topic]
for a total time of ten minutes.” This Motion Requires a Simple
Majority.
e. Hold Member States Accountable: “Country X motions to suspend
the debate and hold member states accountable for reason Y (lack
of proper representation or violation of human rights etc) for a total
time of Y minutes.” This Motion Requires a Simple Majority.
f. Motion to Introduce Draft Resolutions: Delegates will introduce
their draft resolutions in a presentation/Q&A format. X speakers
will be responsible for their draft resolution’s presentation in all its
entirety (explaining it). X other speakers will be responsible for
answering questions. A total time of 5 minutes will be given to each
part. “Country X motions to introduce draft resolutions.” This Motion
Requires a Simple Majority.
g. Motion to Debate Amendments: Delegates will be able to debate
back and forth on a specific amendment. The sponsor of the
amendment as well as one speaker wishing to speak against the
amendment will be given the opportunity to speak. The total time
allotted for each amendment will be 3 minutes. The chair will tap
every time one minute passes signalling a maximum consecutive
speaking time. “Country X motions to suspend the debate to debate
amendments.” This Motion Requires a Simple Majority.

4. Motion To Adjourn The Meeting: “COUNTRY X motions to adjourn the

 meeting for the purpose of lunch.” This Motion Requires a Simple Majority.

5. Motion To Close The Debate: “COUNTRY X motions to close the debate

and move into voting procedures...” This Motion Requires Two-Thirds
Majority.

Written Motions

1. Right of Reply: This is requested when a delegate feels that another

delegate has made a derogatory comment aimed at the country he/she is
representing. There is no Right of Reply to a Right of Reply.
2. Appeal To The Chair’s Decision: This is used when a delegate feels that
the chair committed a mistake or acted unfairly.

Points
1. Point of Order: This is used when a delegate feels that the chair or a
fellow delegate has made an error in the running of the committee. This
Point is Interruptive.
2. Point of Parliamentary Procedure: Also known as a point of inquiry, this
is used when a delegate has a question regarding the rules of procedure
or flow of debate. This Point is Non-Interruptive.
3. Point of Personal Privilege: This is used when a delegate has a certain
personal discomfort. This Point is Interruptive.
4. Point of Information: This is used when a delegate did not understand or
needs more clarifications on a certain speech or notion that a delegate gave.
This Point is Non-Interruptive.

Yields

Yields are only used when a delegate does not use his/her whole speaking time
during the formal debate. They are of three types:

1. Yield To The Chair;

2. Yield To Another Delegate;
3. Yield To Questions.
Note: A Delegate Cannot Yield Yielded Time.

Amendments

There are two types of amendments:

1. Friendly Amendments: A change to a draft resolution that all sponsors

agree with.
2. Unfriendly Amendments: A change to a draft resolution that not all
sponsors agree with. This Amendment Requires 20% Signatories from
the Quorum to Pass.

Passage of Resolutions

In small committees, draft resolutions will require a two-thirds majority to pass.

In large committees, they will require a simple majority. Each Chairperson will
point out at the beginning of the committee session the ‘required number
to pass’ vote that will be applied in each committee.
Topic Briefing

Introduction to the Topic

Historically, the Olympic games have always been
a significant undertaking, even in its ancient
version held originally by the ancient Greeks as a
celebration in honour of Zeus, the Greek god of
thunder and king of all gods, with the first
iteration of that being held circa 776 BC, hosted
every four years in a place called Olympia. Back
then, the event was limited to a few days with the
only sports on display being running, long jump,
Source: Olympic
shot put, javelin, boxing, pankration and
equestrian events. These events were also very localized, always being held in
the same place, and besides that, were very widely supported as they were
considered a religious event, and such had the backing of the temples and
religious figures of the time.

The modern version of the Olympics does not benefit from these advantages. The
modern Olympics are held every four years, each time at a different location,
requiring multiple different venues to host the plethora of sports on display. On
average over 200 countries participate in the games, with the most recent
Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016 hosting more than 11,000 athletes in
total, participating in a whopping 306 events over 28 different sports, each with
multiple subdivisions based on gender, weight, length of the event etc.

There are also two other major types of Olympics held regularly, the Winter
Olympics and the Paralympics, on top of several minor events held by the IOC.
The Winter Olympics are also on a four-year cycle, similar to the Summer
Olympics, but happen usually two years after the Summer Olympics, meaning
that there is a major Olympic event held every two years. The Winter Olympics
are on a smaller, albeit still quite sizable, scale, with the 2018 PyeongChang
Winter Games hosting 92 countries and almost 3,000 athletes, participating in
102 events in 7 different winter-based sports.

Olympic Games Versions

The Paralympic games, a version of the Olympic games held in tandem with the
original event as well as the winter Olympics, held as a means to allow the
involvement of athletes with disabilities, attempting to support and account for
as many disabilities as possible
while still keeping it fair for the
participants. In recent years this
event has grown significantly in
participation and worldwide
attention, with the most recent
event in PyeongChang receiving
around 570 athletes from 48
countries to participate in 80
events in 6 sports. Source: CBC

Besides this, the IOC is also responsible for hosting multiple other smaller events
that occur periodically throughout the years, such as the Youth Olympics, a
version of the Olympics held in the same year as the actual Summer and Winter
Olympics but in reverse (Winter Youth Olympics in the same year as Summer
Olympics etc.). Another event is the World Games, held to allow athletes to
participate in sports not usually in the Olympics. The IOC also backs other
events like the Deaflympics and the Special Olympics.

Olympic Games Concerns

With the global growth and scale of the Olympic games, multiple concerns have
been raised regarding these sporting events. Despite their pure and generally
good intentions, the Olympics as a whole have also become quite a burden on
the global community. As the Olympics have grown in number of events and
participants, it requires more venues to host all the competitions. That is not to
mention creating and/or finding accommodations for the thousands of athletes
visiting, and accounting for the inevitable influx of tourists coming to witness
the event live. Many times, countries that are hosting the Olympics have had to
build new complexes to house all the athletes and most of the time, these living
complexes are left in a state of disarray after the Games are done, requiring more
renovation and time to make any use of them later.

Naturally, security at these events must also be well enforced as to not risk the
health of the spectators and the athletes. This requires the temporary
employment of hundreds of security guards, on top of the utmost attention of
national security forces of the country that is hosting the Games, drawing
manpower from elsewhere and leading to a potential increase in crime during
the running of the Olympics. Health services also must be on high alert, as
injuries are quite common, besides any possible violence that may break out due
to the incredibly high number of people attending.

The IOC must also account for the changes in culture and setting when deciding
where to host their events, and as such require a good scouting team to scope
out the potential venues, as well as spending time and effort discussing the
matter with the country’s government and the agencies responsible for such
affairs. A lot of countries vie for the rights to host any version of the Olympic
games, since it has the opportunity to bring in a lot of attention and revenue
from tourists, in some cases benefiting both the private and public sector of the
country. This reality could create some international animosity between
countries as they make their case for being the optimal country to host the
Games, besides the potential national issues as different companies and firms
will be looking to secure sponsorships and deals as Olympic Games partners.
With the growth of mass media over the years, and the importance of acquiring
proper mass media coverage, it is an important endeavour to find proper news
outlets and broadcasting channels. This is besides worrying about catering to
the older means of broadcasting such as radio, as well as the newer means of
broadcasting such as live streaming and online videos. This then calls into
question the issue of piracy and illegal live streams, as well as illicit distribution
of clips not sanctioned by the IOC. The IOC is the only legal owner of the
broadcasting rights of the Olympics, and as a result must be the one to seek out
all the deals and sponsorships with broadcasting companies and any other such
issues related to broadcasting.

Funding Matters

There exists an ever-present problem with the hosting of the Olympics games. It
is a very prominent issue that does not get very much attention from the general
public but is one that exists alongside almost every single Olympic event. This is
the issue of funding.

Source: Wall Street CN Like any non-profit

organization, the IOC does
not have a large budget to
draw from, and as such
must seek subsidies and
monetary aid from wherever
it can. Whenever the IOC
Source: Olympic
wishes to host an event, it
must first look at this side of the equation. Is the hosting of the event even
possible? The IOC cannot force the host country to fund too much of it for fear
of potentially losing the interest of the country, but also cannot afford to be too
lenient with their requests for funding as to not go bankrupt. Many countries
experienced some debt and a decline in GDP post-Olympic games, and there are
multiple cases of countries and cities backing out of the running for hosting the
Olympic Games once they realized the potential cost was too high. So how are
the Olympics funded? A portion of the price is indeed paid by the host
city/country, first by the taxpayers of the host city, then the government
allocates a certain budget for the event, but many times this budget ends up
being exceeded to ensure the good quality of the Games. The rest is paid for by
the IOC. The IOC is privately funded, and while they make a significant profit
from the TV deals and sales and such from each event, they maintain their status
as a non-profit organization by using about 90% percent of that revenue to pay
for other events and support sports worldwide, while only retaining about 10%
of it.

The members of the IOC are not paid very much from the committee itself but
being a member does come with perks. As such, there has been some
controversies with regards to this, as this might open the door to bribery and
underhanded tactics to get members of the IOC to vouch for a specific country
when deciding where to host the events. Members are allowed to accept luxuries
from countries they visit without the supervision of the IOC, and many cities
take advantage of that by offering visiting members great accommodations and
extravagant banquets simply to strengthen their case for hosting the event. Some
elections have had some people doubting the legitimacy of the votes, however
there are very few cases of a biased vote being recorded.

The Olympic Games, despite their noble cause and pure intentions, have a lot of
controversy and debate surrounding the sustainability and feasibility of their
continuous events, and these are all issues that need to be discussed more by
the global community, as well as figuring out whether or not the Games are even
worth holding in the quantity that they are currently being held in.
History of the Topic

From their inception in the ancient times, to their rebirth in the late 20th century,
the Olympic Games have gone through multiple evolutions and iterations to
finally arrive to the version of the Olympics that exists today.

The Olympics in 1890-1900’s

With the launch of the Olympic movement and the founding of the IOC
happening in 1894, it is rather surprising that the first official set of Olympic
Games was held a mere two years later. Due to the cultural heritage attached
with the Olympics, Greece insisted on holding the Games in Athens. As it turns
out, the Games came out to be quite a success, with 241 athletes from 14
countries attending, participating in 43 events, with a Greek runner called
Spyridon Louis winning in the marathon. At the time, an event on such a scale
had been previously unheard of, and as such even a number that seems small
by today's standards was a significant feat at the time. The cost of the event
turned out to be almost 4 million Greek Drachmae.

That success would continue into the new millennium, as the Olympics would
be held three times in the first decade of the 1900’s, held in Paris, France in
1900, St. Louis, USA in 1904 and London, UK in 1908. The 1908 Games were
actually planned to be hosted by Rome, Italy, but due to Mount Vesuvius
erupting two years prior, the city was forced to withdraw because of financial
concerns. By this point, the Olympics had grown quite a bit, increasing the
number of athletes to just over 2000, all from 22 countries, participating in 110
events. New sports were added such as football, hockey, water polo and many
others. This was when the marathon distance was first set at 42km and 195m,
a few years later becoming the official distance of the marathon still used to this
day worldwide. Another innovation was that this time a special stadium was
prepared beforehand for the Olympics, whereas previous events happened
wherever they could be held around the city. An example of such would be
athletes swimming in the sea. The estimated cost of the 1908 Games was just
under $400,000.

The Olympics in 1910-1920’s

This decade was marred by several

influential political global events that also
had an impact on how and when the
Olympic Games were held. The Olympics
started strong in 1912 with a very well-
organized set of Games happening at
Stockholm, Sweden, were some new and
interesting ways of running the games were
used, such as using an automatic timing
device and a photo finish. The event’s
popularity had been rising, this time
welcoming athletes from all around the
globe, with visitors from each continent.
The final count of athletes was just over
2400, and 6 more countries had joined in
the Games. No confirmed cost has been Source: Olympic

given by the Swedish government.

With the rise of international political tensions and the breakout of the Great
War (World War I), along with the fact that the Games were scheduled to be held
in Berlin, Germany, one of the major powers fighting the war, the 7th Olympic
Games in 1916 were cancelled.

By 1920, the event was back on track, holding the 8th Olympic Games in
Antwerp, Belgium. The number of athletes did not increase very much from last
time, and only a single new country joined the fray, but there was a significant
jump in the number of events, going from 102 in 1912 to 156 this time around.
A new set of equestrian sports had been added, including equestrian jumping,
equestrian vaulting and more. A couple winter sports were also held, as winter
hockey and figure skating saw their debut at these games.

1924 was a turning point for the Olympics, as with the rising interest in winter
sports, the IOC decided that it was time to host the first ever Winter Olympics.
Hosted by Chamonix, France, the same year as they hosted the Summer
Olympics in Paris, the Winter Games saw 258 athletes attend from 16 different
countries to participate in new winter sports like bobsleigh and curling,
alongside the older ones like ice hockey and figure skating.

The last set of Games that decade was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where
the number of athletes climbed to almost 3000, however the number of events
saw a decline with several sports being removed such as tug of war, among
others. The marking event of these Games however was the lighting of the first
Olympic Torch, which became the symbol of the Olympic Games.

Olympics in 1930-1940’s

This decade started off as usual, with the USA holding both the Winter and
Summer Olympics in 1932, Lake Placid and Los Angeles respectively. However
due to the geographic location of the state of California, and the US as a whole,
as well as the Great Depression that the country was going through, attendance
was bound to be at its lowest since all the way back in 1904 for the Summer
Games, with only 1334 athletes and only 252 athletes attending the Winter
Games. This was unfortunate as the standard for competition and venues had
never been higher, with new arenas and stadiums being built and furnished
specifically for the event. An interesting feat was achieved that year by an
American Athlete by the name of Eddie Eagan, as he became the first athlete to
win a gold medal at the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. LA is said
to have profited off of holding the Summer Olympics, with estimates placing the
total profits at about $1 million.
Nazi Germany hosted both the Winter and Summer Games in 1936, with the
numbers of athletes in both skyrocketing, almost 4000 in the Summer Olympics,
and just under 650 in the Winter event. Unfortunately, those happened to be the
last Games that will be held for a while, as with the eruption of World War II, the
1940 and 1944 Olympics had to be cancelled, meaning four sets of Games, as
each year would also have included Winter Games alongside the usual Summer
Olympics.

The decade closed out with St. Moritz, Switzerland hosting the Winter Games for
the second time, and London, UK hosting the Summer Games, this also being
the second time they are held there. It is suspected that the reason for this was
that after the uncertainty that WWII brought with it, the IOC decided that going
back to cities that have experience in hosting the Olympics would be optimal for
the success of the event. The popularity of the Olympics had not been affected
by the war, as numbers were at an all time high for both events.

Olympics in 1950-1960’s

The next few Olympics proceeded as usual, with very little disruptions
happening. The 1952 set of Games, Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway and
Helsinki, Finland, were a great success, with the number of athletes reaching
almost 700 and 5000 respectively. These Summer Games were also the first that
the USSR participated in. This was the first time that computers were used in
the Winter Games, as they were used to calculate the scores given by judges in
figure skating, speeding up the grading process.

The next set of Games had

some issues with attendance
due to some political
tensions between a select
few countries. Several
western countries, like
Switzerland and Spain,
withdrew, in an effort to
boycott the Games due to
the USSR participating after
they had invaded Hungary
earlier. Some middle-eastern
Source: Olympic
nations, like Lebanon and
Syria, also declined the
invitation because of the Anglo-French colonization happening in that region.
These things severely impacted the number of athletes in attendance, as it had
dropped to 3300 in the Summer Games. However this did not apply for the
Winter Games, as all the countries that were there before still participated for
the most part, sending more athletes, alongside the inclusion of the USSR, who
won a majority of the gold medals at that event, increasing the total count to
821.

The following Olympics went through without a hitch, with technological

advances improving the quality along the way, with the Squaw Valley 1960
Winter Games being the first time any video footage was used to review a detail
that happened in one of the ski races, as well as the Tokyo 1964 Summer Games
being the last time a manual stopwatch was used to record the official times.
Also, Grenoble 1968 Winter Games were of its kind the first to be broadcast in
colour.

Olympics in 1970-1980’s

Nothing of note happened in the first couple of Games in 1972, except for a
terrorist attack, involving a conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in the
Olympic village. The IOC only waited 34 hours before resuming activities after
that event, showing that they will not stand for such interruptions.

In 1976, an interesting case of withdrawal happened, where the American city of

Denver had been given the right to host the Winter Olympics that year, however
after the people of the state of Colorado voted strongly against it due to them not
wanting public funds being used to finance the event. The city of Innsbruck,
Austria offered to take over the event, and having hosted the Winter Games 12
years prior, had the
experience necessary to
conduct the event, eventually
being given the rights. The
1976 Summer Games also
experienced some turmoil,
with 22 African countries
refusing to attend due to the
fact that the New Zealand Source: Olympic
rugby team, that had
previously toured Apartheid South Africa, was set to contend at the Games.

The 1980 Winter and Summer Games were surrounded with quite a bit of
controversy, as they took in place in Lake Placid, USA and Moscow, USSR
respectively, during what was the height of the Cold War. Both events saw
decreases in attendance, with the Summer Games having the lowest number of
countries in attendance since 1956 with 80. This was due to a boycott, called for
by the USA, following the USSR led invasion of Afghanistan a year prior.

In the following Summer Olympics, held at LA, USA, the USSR held a boycott in
return, however this did not affect the Games to the same extent as it did last
time, with the highest number of countries in attendance being seen here with
140. This was also the first Olympics that had a paraplegic athlete compete in a
medal event, when Neroli Fairhall competed in archery while in a wheelchair.

The decade closed out with the Calgary 1988 Winter Games and Seoul 1988
Summer Games both being a resounding success, with all time high attendance
numbers, despite a few countries boycotting the Seoul Games due to the ongoing
conflict between South Korea and North Korea.

Olympics in 1990-2010’s

The 1992 Barcelona Summer Games marked the first time that an Olympic event
did not have any boycotts, and the Albertville 1992 Winter Olympics also went
quite smoothly.

The 1994 Winter Games, held in Lillehammer, were the first set of Winter Games
to be held separate from the Summer Olympics, creating the modern schedule
of the 2-year gap between the alternating versions of the Olympics.

The 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta had a disaster occur in the form of a
terrorist attack, when a bomb exploded at the stadium where the Games were
taking place, killing 2 and injuring 110.

The Nagano 1998 Winter Games and the Sydney 2000 Summer Games went by
smoothly, both competitions seeing increased numbers and new sports being
added.
In 2002, the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics had some conspiracy and
controversy surrounding the process of selection, as after the city was voted in
as the one to host the Games, rumours of bribery had leaked, causing several
members of the IOC to resign. The Games went along as planned.

The decade kept on going with the Games happening without too many issues,
with the number of athletes increasing steadily as well as the Games becoming
more popular worldwide, with this carrying over into the next decade, except for
a few select cases. However one thing could be noted in that the number of
applicants for candidacy had begun to decrease over time, as in 2004, the
number of candidates was 11, whereas in the voting for the 2020 Games, there
had been only 6 cities that applied.

Case Studies

Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics 2016:

The Olympic Games have multiple benefits to the city it is hosted in. Besides
bringing in more tourists and publicity, the city also expands its infrastructure
to accommodate the athletes and tourists, leading to long term benefits.
However, hosting the Olympics does have several drawbacks, and many times it
is actually detrimental to the city’s economy and/or population.

One of the most prominent

examples in recent history is
Brazil, when it hosted the
Summer Olympic Games in
2016. That same year,
concerns of the Zika virus
were spreading around
Brazil, with over 100,000
confirmed cases, and Source: Medium
100,000 more suspected. This epidemic, on its own, should have been enough
to discourage the Brazilian government and the Rio de Janeiro municipality from
holding the Olympic Games that summer. On top of that, Rio and the country
as a whole had been going through an economic recession, and while some
thought that holding the Olympics could possibly be what turns the situation
around, most were not that optimistic, with a majority of the population itself
actually viewing the Olympics in a negative light.

Despite these many concerns, the Olympic Games went ahead as planned, and
only then it was made truly clear that that should not have happened. The
number of athletes and tourists was significantly lower than the usual
attendance for the Olympics, due to fears of contracting the Zika virus. The city
of Rio had, at first, set a budget of around 29 billion Brazilian Reais (around $7
billion), however over the year of the Olympics and the next couple of years after
that, the total amount spent on the Games ballooned up to 43 billion Reais ($13
billion). This large jump in expenditure had a significant impact on the economy
of the city, because as previously mentioned, it was already going through a
recession and experiencing some significant inflation, the amount spent on the
games only worsened the situation.

The revenue brought in from the Games was nowhere near enough to break-
even, especially with the diminished number of spectators, and even years after
the Olympics, the city is still suffering from the repercussions. A lot of the
infrastructure that was built specifically for the Olympics were somewhat rushed
and inadequate, leading to it costing more to maintain and fix than expected,
and several venues that were constructed to host the events are very scarcely
used nowadays, costing more to maintain than they make back with occasional
shows that they host, while several other stadiums and locations have been
defunct and out of repair.

For months after the Games, state officials and employees were not getting
paychecks, including teachers and doctors in public schools and hospitals, due
to the lack of funds in the aftermath of the Games, which led to a large civilian
uprising. Another major factor was that many public services were not being
provided. The state proposed a cut in salaries for the state employees, but then
that led to violent demonstrations and protests. The state of Rio had already
been paying off debt before the Games, and that aspect only worsened as the
Brazilian government helped while the Games were still ongoing to keep the
armed forces on the streets and hospitals open, but afterwards the city
descended into chaos once the federal subsidisation had stopped.

Besides this, Brazil saw a significant rise in crime during, and after, the Olympic
Games. Rio has always been a city that has been plagued with crime, from
countless drug cartels to petty thievery and robbery, but the Olympic Games
only worsened the situation. The heightened security force helped mitigate this
issue while the games were running, but once they were done, the city faced all
time high crime rates, with street robberies rising 48%, while murders became
more common, on both sides of the law. Police violence in response to the surge
of crime brought with it only more conflict, feeding a positive feedback loop that
only kept escalating the issue. That is not to mention the city’s rampant drug
issues and illegal gun trafficking that plagues the streets.

Despite the multitude of reasons that should have dissuaded Rio from hosting
the Olympics, they persisted, and have paid a significant price, suffering the
consequences of that decision to this day. Occurrences like these and others,
have caused many countries and cities to question whether or not hosting the
Olympics is truly worth it, because while they are significant cultural and
societal events, financially and politically, the drawbacks are usually not worth
the benefits that the Games could possibly bring.

International Actions

Recently, with the importance and sustainability of the Olympic Games called
into question, the IOC has held multiple sessions and meetings discussing
possible changes and modifications to the Olympic Games formula to increase
its sustainability and decrease the potential burden it could cause on the host
city and country.

Sustainability Roadmap

In 2014, the IOC came up with a sustainability roadmap, related to multiple

things, but most importantly improving the sustainability of the Olympics, as
well as using sports as a driver to further the UN’s 2030 Agenda concerning the
17 Sustainable Development Goals.

This roadmap passed unanimously, and the IOC has been working to reach the
goals delineated in the roadmap. A year later, sport had become officially named
an enabler for the SDGs and Agenda 2030.

In 2018, the IOC released their

first Sustainability Report, in
which they spoke of how the
progress was going in relation to
the sustainability roadmap and
the implementation of the
sustainability strategy set a few
years prior. In this 119-page
document, the IOC shows how
Source: Olympic
they have advanced the cause of
sustainability in three different
ways: the IOC as an organization, the IOC as the owner of the Olympic Games,
and the IOC as the leader of the Olympic movement. While all three categories
are important and have worldwide consequences with regards to the SDGs and
general sustainability, each point addresses different aspects of the topic.
The IOC have been making good progress when it comes to improving their local
sustainability, through actions like making their office building more energy
efficient, as well as building the new IOC headquarters building, Olympic House,
compliant to the international sustainability standards. Globally, they have
improved sustainability by optimizing the travel costs and impact of IOC
employees, as well as improving sustainability through the corporate events that
they hold internationally.

The IOC has been working intensely with experts and specialists to see how they
could improve the sustainability of the actual Olympic Games, with regards to
the host city and population. They have made significant strides in several
aspects, cited in the report, such as ensuring that one of the first things
discussed and evaluated when considering city candidature eligibility was the
sustainability of the games in that specific city, and the IOC Candidature
Questionnaire has been changed to push that ideal, with it coming into effect for
the 2026 Winter Olympics candidature.

The IOC also has made efforts to continually monitor and support the host cities
in the process of preparing for the Olympics, and while they are running, to
ensure at least a smooth sustainable flow is maintained, and while the IOC is
not yet satisfied with the results of this resolution, they are working towards
accomplishing this goal.

The IOC similarly has set its eye on a few strategic long-term goals for the
Olympic Games set for 2030, one of which is moulding the Olympics in a way
that can make the host city use the Olympic Games as a way to further their
own sustainability. This however requires significant changes to the way the
Olympic Games are run, because several cities have been left in unsustainable
states post holding the Olympics.

The Olympic Movement is an ideal that the IOC holds on to dearly, and truly
believes is one that can make a difference in the world, and one of the ways it is
doing that is by promoting sustainability. They have taken measures in this
department as well, creating adequate means for the exchange and promotion of
the IOCs goals of sustainability between Olympic Movement stakeholders,
through things like workshops, having held three of them in 2017, as well as
releasing 39 case studies detailing the work and progress of IFs in terms of the
IOCs vision of sustainability through the Olympic Movement.

Besides this, the IOC has also created an ambassador program, one that would
see ambassadors spreading awareness about sustainability to athletes all
around the world. However, this project is still being researched and refined and
has not been implemented yet.

Prominent Aspects of the Topic

With the recent global rise in the movement towards sustainability, through
goals like the 17 SDGs and the Agenda 2030, as well as the increasing doubts
as to the sustainability of the Olympics Games, questions have been raised as to
the importance of holding them, with some cities even rethinking or suspending
their bids to host the Games.

The Italian capital of Rome has so far withdrawn twice from the running for host,
removing their bids for both the 2020 Olympics and 2024 Olympics, first
withdrawing due to a lack of guaranteed support from the federal government,
however the second time no specific reason was cited for the withdrawal, but it
is suspected that it was due to a combination of the country’s financial situation
at the time as well as the economic and social debacle that followed the Rio
Olympics in 2016.

Recently though, another Italian city, Milan, has been selected to host the 2026
Winter Olympics, and this time around, the
federal government is pledging its financial
support. The only other candidate in the running
for hosting those games was the Swedish city of
Stockholm alongside a ski resort called Are,
however the voting was rather one sided, with
Milan winning 47-34, possibly due to the
monetary guarantee of the Italian government to
back the event. Milan has initially set the
operating budget to just under $2 billion, but as
usual that price tag is destined to increase,
probably to a significantly higher number, seeing
as the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi cost the
city a whopping $51 billion, a number that has
scared more than a few bidders out of applying Source: Dream of Italy
for candidacy.

Host Withdrawal and Repercussions

This raises an interesting question. In years prior, bidding had always been
competitive and had multiple different cities involved, now however, the voting
is only happening on a handful of cities, and even those are never fully set. The
Swedish bid was not the first of its kind, as they had bid for the 2022 Winter
Olympics, but withdrawn, yet again due to financial issues, and the most recent
bid for 2026 had very feeble support from both the Swedish government and the
population.
This has been more and more prominent in recent years, as those are not the
only cases of withdrawal and/or hesitance to host. In 2018, a poll was conducted
on the population of Calgary, Canada, as to whether or not they think the city
should bid for hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics, but the overwhelming majority
of responses came back negative in favour of not hosting the event. In 2017, the
Hungarian city of Budapest was pretty much forced to remove their bid for the
2024 Olympics, as that bid had begun a political movement against the decision
that sparked demonstrations calling for the withdrawal from the running.

In 2014, the capital of Norway, Oslo, withdrew its bid for the 2022 Winter
Olympics, after much internal discussion within the country’s ruling political
parties, where they came to the verdict that hosting the games would not be
worthwhile. Previous to this, Krakow (Poland) Stockholm (Sweden), and Lviv
(Ukraine) had all dropped out of the running.

There are many more examples and occurrences of countries and cities
withdrawing from bidding, but the point has already been made. There is a
noticeable pattern with the bidding for hosting the Olympic Games, with the
number of applicants dropping over the years, and as the years go by, even the
applicants that did apply are dropping out, leaving the voting to happen between
two to three countries, or even in a few cases by default because only one country
was left. The cities that are applying for bids are withdrawing for several reasons,
but it always comes down to some combination of the people of the city not being
in favour, a noticeable lack of federal support, or a shortage of funding and
means to host the event.

Both countries and cities have been approaching their potential candidature
with a lot of caution and scepticism, employing the help of experts and analysts
to truly evaluate whether hosting the Olympic Games will be a benefit or a
detriment to the country, and the overall feasibility of the project. Despite the
recent sustainability efforts by the IOC, it seems like the bidding for candidacy
will keep thinning.
Recommendations

● Delegates should remember that the IOC is not technically a UN body, but
can ask specific UN bodies for aid and advice.
● Delegates are encouraged to refer to the Olympic Charter for more specific
details about the operations of the IOC.
● Delegates should remember that despite its drawbacks, the Olympics are
very popular worldwide, and actions taken need to take the public into
account.
● Delegates should remember that while the IOC endorses sports through
the Olympics, that is not its only goal.
● Delegates are encouraged to come up with resolutions that could
realistically keep the Olympics relatively unchanged while making them
more sustainable.
● Delegates are encouraged to look over the IOC 2018 sustainability report
for more details concerning their actions in this department.

Questions to Consider

● Has your country ever hosted any iteration of the Olympic Games? If so,
then what kind of consequences did it have on the country?
● How active is your country in the Olympics?
● How active is your country in its own national sports scene?
● Do you think that the Olympics is an event that can be done away with?
● What are ways to make the Olympic Games more sustainable and
environmentally-friendly?
● Is it even possible to make any major alterations to the existing Olympic
Games or any alterations to make them less of an economic burden?
● Should the frequency of Olympic Games be reduced, or should their scale
be reduced?
References

● Carless, Will. “Charts: Crime Is Getting Even Worse in Post-Olympics Rio.”

Public Radio International, 7 Dec. 2016,
https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-12-07/charts-crime-getting-even-
worse-post-olympics-rio
● Carless, Will. “Months after the Olympics, Rio De Janeiro Is Broke.” Public
Radio International, 1 Dec. 2016, https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-12-
01/three-months-after-olympics-rio-de-janeiro-broke.
● “Cooperation with the UN.” International Olympic Committee,
https://www.olympic.org/cooperation-with-the-un.
● “Funding.” International Olympic Committee,
https://www.olympic.org/funding.
● Ioc. “About the IOC.” International Olympic Committee, IOC,
https://www.olympic.org/the-ioc.
● “IOC Sustainability Report.” International Olympic Committee, Oct. 2018,
https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document
Library/OlympicOrg/IOC/What-We-Do/celebrate-olympic-
games/Sustainability/IOC-Sustainability-Report-
2018.pdf#_ga=2.181627623.1143309635.1548246969-
599827628.1541417908.
● Lowe, Rachel, et al. “The Zika Virus Epidemic in Brazil: From Discovery to
Future Implications.” International Journal of Environmental Research and
Public Health, MDPI, 9 Jan. 2018,
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5800195/.
● Lubin, Gus. “Olympics, Inc: Inside The Secretive, $6 Billion World Of The
International Olympic Committee.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 17
Feb. 2010, https://www.businessinsider.com/olympics-inc-inside-the-
business-of-the-ioc?op=1.
● McBride, James. “The Economics of Hosting the Olympic Games.” Council
on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 19 Jan. 2018,
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/economics-hosting-olympic-games.
● “Olympic Broadcasting Services.” Olympic Broadcasting Services,
https://www.obs.tv/.
● “The Games: The Real Story of the Ancient Olympic Games - Penn
Museum.” The Games | The Real Story of the Ancient Olympic Games - Penn
Museum,
https://www.penn.museum/sites/olympics/olympicorigins.shtml.