sep.22.2008

Last Friday the International Olympic Committee (IOC)  announced the composition of the Evaluation Commission which will visit the four Candidate Cities bidding to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The team will be headed by Nawal El Moutawakel, who chaired the Evaluation Commission for the 2012 Olympic Games bid process. Her team, composed of representatives from the Olympic Movement as well as a number of advisors, will analyse the candidature files of the four bidding cities - Chicago (USA), Tokyo (Japan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Madrid (Spain) - due for submission to the IOC by 12 February 2009. The Commission will, in addition, make on-site inspections around the second quarter of 2009 before then issuing a comprehensive technical appraisal for IOC members one month before they elect the host city on 2 October 2009 during the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen. This appraisal, known as the IOC Evaluation Commission report, is also made available for the general public and other interested parties on www.olympic.org

The composition of the Commission is as follows:
Nawal El MOUTAWAKEL Chair of the 2016 Evaluation Commission
IOC Executive Board Member MAR
Gilbert FELLI Olympic Games Executive Director SUI
Ching-Kuo WU IOC Member TPE
Craig REEDIE IOC Member GBR
Guy DRUT IOC Member FRA
Mounir SABET IOC Member EGY
Alexander POPOV IOC Member, Athletes’ Commission Representative RUS
Els van BREDA VRIESMAN IOC Member, ASOIF Representative NED
Gregory HARTUNG IPC Representative AUS

The Commission will also comprise an ANOC representative, still to be appointed, and advisors.

Commenting on the announcement, IOC President Jacques Rogge said: "The Evaluation Commission plays an important role in assessing the Candidate Cities' ability to host the Olympic Games. We have here a professional team with a wide range of knowledge and experience. I would like to thank Nawal El Moutawakel for accepting to lead it. Nawal did an excellent job as chairwoman of the Evaluation Commission of the 2012 Candidate Cities. As an Olympic champion, a newly elected member of the IOC Executive Board and Sports Minister in Morocco she will bring an invaluable contribution to the Commission."


Commenting on her appointment, Nawal El Moutawakel said: ‘I feel privileged to chair for the second time an Evaluation Commission and am grateful to the IOC President for his trust and support. The team will have the complex and exciting task to evaluate the potential of four highly capable Candidate Cities. Our role will be to assess their technical capabilities in a transparent and neutral way in order to provide IOC members with the information they need to guide their choice on 2 October 2009. I rely on the valuable experience of my colleagues and look forward to taking on this challenge.”

[1] Cities are listed in the order of drawing of lots.


Note: Olympic champion in the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, Nawal El Moutawakel was the first Moroccan athlete to win a gold medal. Her outstanding sporting career and her dedication to sport led her to become a member of the IAAF Council in 1995; Secretary of State, responsible for Youth and Sport, to the Minister of Social Affairs in Morocco in 1997 and Minister of Sports in 2007. She has been an IOC member since 1998 and was elected member of the IOC Executive Board this summer in Beijing.