Southeast Queensland bid would be 'no-risk’ choice for IOC as they weigh up potential 2032 Olympics venues

AUSTRALIA’S proven record of hosting the Olympics makes southeast Queensland a serious candidate to stage the event in 2032 at a time the IOC needs countries it can trust to deliver.

AUSTRALIA has a rare golden opportunity to host the Olympics for the third time if it goes ahead with a proposed bid to stage the 2032 Games, according to Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) President John Coates.

Southeast Queensland is currently conducting a feasibility study over whether to proceed with a Brisbane-based bid and Coates says the timing could be perfect if the bid proceeds.

“There’s no doubt that we’ve got a great reputation within the IOC,” Coates told News Corp Australia

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“We’ve got a very good track record and everyone loved coming to both Melbourne and Sydney.”

AOC President John Coates says Australia have a big chance to host the 2032 Olympics.

Although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has implemented new rules dramatically slashing the operational costs of staging the Olympics, the IOC is still struggling to attract candidates after the troubled 2016 Rio Olympics.

The IOC has already shown its hand for wanting to pick host cities it can rely on by changing its own rules to award the 2024 Olympics to Paris and the 2028 Games to Los Angeles after they were the only candidates for 2024, which makes an Australian bid for 2032 almost irresistible.

“We’re an absolute no-risk,” Coates said.

“Once we know we’ve got the infrastructure right and we can do it at the right cost, then we’d be a very serious candidate.”

The decision on who will host the 2032 Olympics won’t be made until 2025 so Australia still has plenty of time to make up its mind although the window is narrowing

Indonesia, India and the two Koreas have also expressed interest so if Australia doesn’t go for 2032, it could be decades before the Games return to the southern hemisphere.

“It’s still early days but we need to be in position to give it a tick in the next two years,” Coates said.

“The Queensland Premier has repeatedly said she’s interested but she wants to make sure she’s go full apolitical support and the AOC would want that as well.

“The Games will pay for themselves but there’s no use us doing this unless we have the political support from all sides.”

The possibility of a bid comes at a time when Australian governments are making a concerted push to bring the biggest sporting events in the world Down Under and Coates looms as a pivotal figure in Australia’s potential campaign for 2032.

The Sydney lawyer has significant influence and standing within the IOC, delivering a series of keynotes speeches at this week’s IOC Congress in Buenos Aires.

A member since 2001, he is the chairman of the coordination commission for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the current president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The success of the Sydney Olympics means another Aussie bid could be on cards.

The AOC is now better placed to push for the Olympics after the bitter public stoush last year when Coates was challenged by hockey gold medallist Danni Roche for the AOC presidency.

Coates comfortably won the vote but not before an ugly battle where the AOC was accused of allowing bullying within the workplace.

Coates’ long-time right hand man Mike Tancred later stepped down as media director despite being cleared of bullying and Coates fell out with Australian Sports Commission chief John Wylie while an independent review into the AOC’s workplace practices called for major changes in the organisation.

“It was rough at the time because of some of the personal attacks but there’s no doubt we needed to make changes and so we brought in a head of HR and we’ve done a lot of work on culture,” Coates said.

“It needed to be done, I’m very happy it’s done, and it’s a very happy place to work.

“And the AOC has come out of it really well. We haven’t lost any sponsors and we’ve now got record sponsor revenues.”