MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico has launched an official bid for the 2036 Olympics, the country’s foreign ministry and the national Olympic committee (COM) said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
Foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard said they would announce a promotion committee on Nov. 30 as the first step of the process, followed by assessments to determine the host cities.
“We see ourselves as a successful and ambitious country. We are the only country that will host three FIFA World Cups, we are a vigorous country with one of the best economies in the world,” Ebrard told reporters.
Mexico City hosted the Olympics in 1968.
COM president Maria Jose Alcala said that Mexico had been under consideration as a candidate since July, when International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach sent a letter expressing his enthusiasm for a potential bid.
Olympic athletics medallist Ana Gabriela Guevara, who is the director of Mexico’s National Sports Commission, had earlier said it was economically unfeasible for the country to host the Olympics.
In response, Ebrard said that the financing system for the Olympics had changed and the government would contribute only 10% of the total expenses, adding that Mexico already had the infrastructure for the event.
“We will initiate the studies requested by the IOC to take into account the changes that have taken place in the Olympic Games financing… there is no bond to be paid in the process,” he said.
“The Olympics should fit the cities, not the other way around, not build and then not use the facilities.
“We would have 15 years, enough time to organise it. If Mexico proposes something, it is to achieve it.”
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; editing by Clare Fallon)
