Opening Ceremony LetDown
22 June 1997A plan to allow athletes to watch and participate in the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics has been cancelled - apparently at the insistence of the International Olympics Committee and United States television network NBC.
In its bid, Sydney - which sold itself as "the athletes' games" - promised to give all 10,200 athletes a seat in the main stadium at the opening ceremony. This conformed with the Olympic Charter which states: "Each delegation, after completing its march, proceeds to the seat reserved for it in order to watch the ceremony." Sydney's Olympic Stadium was designed to allow athletes to have a seat and take part in the ceremony.
It is a common complaint among athletes that they are unable to attend opening ceremonies. Traditionally, they have had to wait in holding areas for hours waiting to march, thus missing much of the show. Yesterday, in a joint statement from the IOC and the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG), it was announced: "The best solution, regarding both the location of the athletes before the parade of the delegations of National Olympic Committees and the format of the parade itself, is to proceed according to an established tradition which has proven to be very successful." It was unclear last night if this means the IOC now intends to change its own charter.
Apparently NBC was worried about the departure from tradition and believed that the occasion would be compromised if athletes could be seen before entering the stadium. Other sources suggested NBC was worried about gaining access to US athletes if they were seated in the stands. The Olympics Minister and SOCOG President, Mr Knight, said yesterday athletes who chose not to participate in the parade would be allocated seats in the stadium. Those who marched would be housed in the multi-use arena next to the main stadium while they waited for the parade. They would be able to watch the ceremony on television. This will present a dilemma for bathletes - either they can participate, or watch the action live, but not both.
The decision may disappoint athletes but there are few in SOCOG who will quarrel with it. Having to allocate 10,200 seats to the athletes would have denied SOCOG somewhere between $1million and $5million in revenue from ticket sales and restrict the public's access.
In another development, SOCOG has suspended negotiations for $600million in sponsorship until the bed tax issue is resolved. Hotels are refusing to provide SOCOG with rooms during the Games following the imposition of a 10 per cent bed tax by the State Government. SOCOG has formed a four-person delegation to liaise with the hotel industry and the State Government. It consists of Lord Mayor Frank Sartor, Mr Rod McGeoch, Mr Graham Richardson and its chief executive, Mr Sandy Hollway. Mr Knight admitted yesterday that one sponsor had decided to withhold a $12million payment due next week because SOCOG could not guarantee it accommodation during the Games. Mr Hollway said: "We're the meat in the sandwich. I just don't want us to be chomped on. "It has reached the point where it is seriously impeding our ability to sign up new sponsors, that means potentially a problem for the flows of revenue, that in turn has to impact at some point of the amount we can spend. "Were this situation to become protracted, then we would have a serious problem managing the project." In another decision, SOCOG will recommend to the State Government that the start of daylight saving in 2000 be brought forward two months.
