Reports that Brisbane looked at giving back the 2032 Summer Games called ‘fake news’ by IOC

It’s been three years since the International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented step of naming Brisbane, Australia, the host of the 2032 Summer Games so far ahead of the expected timeline that other potential sites hadn’t even put together bids.

This week, a TV news report out of Queensland claimed government officials looked at returning the Olympics amid controversy over plans for a costly new stadium. After being told giving up the Games would cost at least $330 million in U.S. dollars, plus the loss of $2 billion in federal funding, the report said the Australian state rejected the idea.

A spokeswoman for Queensland Premier Steven Miles denied that discussion took place, saying the state “government never sought advice about cancelling the Games. We’ve always said Queensland would deliver a great Games — not once did the government ever have the intention to cancel the Games,” according to the Telegraph.

What was decided, the spokeswoman said, was “not to spend $3.4 billion (nearly $2 billion in U.S. dollars) on a new stadium.”

IOC President Thomas Bach also dismissed the report.

“This is mere speculation; all the actors have made it very clear there was no mention of this in any of the conversations or planning they had, so this was some kind of fake news apparently,” the top IOC leader told reporters Wednesday during a virtual news conference.

Bach also said he did “not have at this moment, major concern” about Brisbane not going ahead with plans for a massive new stadium, noting that Brisbane’s bid did not include any new venues and that the IOC policy known as Olympic Agenda 2020 calls for hosts to use only existing or temporary venues.

“At this moment in time, I think we are all aligned with these principles,” Bach said.

Back in 2021, the decision to name Brisbane the “preferred host” for 2032 was criticized as “the least transparent bid decision the IOC has ever made” by Robert Livingstone, producer of the Toronto-based Gamesbids.com. Livingstone recently tweeted “there is too much at stake for both #Brisbane2032 organizers and the IOC to let this fall apart. But expect a rocky 8 years ahead.”

At the time, Salt Lake City’s bid to host either the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games was underway. It wasn’t until late last year that the IOC advanced Salt Lake City to “preferred host” status for 2034, along with France’s French Alps bid for 2030. A final vote on the sites for the upcoming Winter Games is expected in July.

Recently, IOC officials made it clear that proposed new multibillion-dollar baseball and hockey facilities for Salt Lake City shouldn’t be tied to hosting another Olympic even though the venues are to be built only if Utah’s efforts to attract major league teams to the state are successful and have been discussed as potential sites for Olympic events.

Utah’s Olympic bid relies on reusing facilities from the 2002 Winter Games, with the $2.45 billion price tag for hosting another Winter Games coming from private sources, largely the sale of sponsorships, broadcast rights and tickets. and the federal government providing security, as it does for the Super Bowl and other major events.