GENEVA (AP) – Olympic organisers from Australia said Wednesday they have safeguards in place to stop the 2032 Brisbane Games ever joining Paris, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro under investigation for financial wrongdoing.
One week after Paris authorities raided offices and homes linked to organising the 2024 Olympics, Brisbane officials were at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Switzerland for a first detailed progress meeting on their own project.
Brisbane would be “standing tall in the highest standards”, organising committee president Andrew Liveris told reporters in an online briefing.
“We have to. In fact, if we don’t do that then we should not be there,” he said, pointing to “a robust fraud and code of conduct policy” already in place with compliance training for senior management.
In Paris, Olympic officials are under scrutiny for suspected favouritism in how contracts were awarded rather than the kind of bribery that tainted Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo held in 2021.
A Summer Games typically involves hundreds of contracts linked to the multi-billion dollar operations for organisers, plus billions more in construction and security costs mostly met by taxpayers.
“We’re subject to Queensland government procurement standards,” Liveris said of Brisbane’s home state.
Brisbane organisers’ operating budget is set at AUD5 billion (USD3.3 billion). The IOC contributes cash and services that amounted to nearly USD1.9 billion for Tokyo.
Organisers’ revenue including ticket, sponsorship and merchandise sales has a target set at USD1.7 billion (AUD2.5 billion), Brisbane 2032 chief executive Cindy Hook said.
Liveris acknowledged that by global standards Australia is a “small commercial market” while Brisbane and Queensland have to build their reputation for a high standard of living.
“We have a wonderful part of the world but not as well-known as maybe it needs to be,” he said. “So that means we have to find innovative ways to bring sponsors to the table.”
Big-ticket projects for 2032 include the federally backed Brisbane Arena that will later stage swimming and a state-funded rebuild of the storied cricket ground known as the Gabba.
