MADRID, 1 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The recently re-elected president of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), Alejandro Blanco, insisted that Madrid “cannot forget the Olympic dream”, referring to the “real possibility” that the Spanish capital could present a candidacy to organize this sporting event in the future.
“Madrid cannot forget the Olympic dream, it is the most prepared city in the world. We unite the great sports, organizational level, that of our leaders and that more than 90% of the population wants a Games. I have spoken with the mayor about this. They owe us the Olympic Games. The Games in Madrid have to be a real possibility, it is that we cannot give up the Games in Madrid, it is impossible, “said Alejandro Blanco, after being re-elected as president of the COE in an Extraordinary Assembly.
Thus, the leader pointed out that they are already working to build the foundations of Madrid as “the center of the sports organization of the world”, although he did not forget either the candidacy, still in the air, of Catalonia for the Winter Olympics in 2030, for whom Blanco hopes that sport will “bridge the barriers” that still exist.
“These Games must be those of understanding, respect and dialogue, for many political differences that exist, there is a space that is sport. We all have the objective that the candidacy is everyone’s. That candidacy has great significance for Spanish society “, he valued.
“BEIJING 2022 IS 100% GUARANTEED”
Just two months after the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Blanco acknowledged that there is “concern” about the increase in infections derived from the new variant of the Omicron coronavirus. “The sanitary measures are so extreme that they guarantee the health of the entire Olympic family. The variant that has come out generates concern, but the measures are very strong. The games are 100% guaranteed, they will have great controls,” he said.
On the other hand, the president of the COE valued the sentence to 30 years in prison to the former president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman, for paying bribes to buy votes for the candidacy of Rio 2016. “I am displeased. In the end it is shown that it is discovered The truth. If you cheat, it is discovered and you pay for it, it is very good news for cleaning. We are talking about cleaning people, not the Olympic movement, “he said.
Finally, Blanco praised the high level of Spanish athletes in Tokyo 2020, which generates hope for Paris 2024. “Many people were among the top eight, people who in Paris will be 26 years old and will be in their best competitive stage The hope for Paris is extraordinary, the level is very good. We still have a short but very intense cycle, “he concluded about Spain’s options in the next Games.