DOHA: The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said they support the Queensland Government’s position in placing the Brisbane 2032 candidature on hold while Australia deals with the coronavirus crisis.
“AOC President John Coates has confirmed that meetings of the Olympic Candidature Leadership Group (OCLG) scheduled earlier this year were deferred, allowing governments to focus on dealing with COVID-19,” the AOC said on its website.
Coates said he’d proposed to OCLG members on March 31 that the meetings would not proceed while all three levels of governments dealt with the pandemic.
In his speech to the AOC Annual General Meeting on May 9, Coates advised that discussions with the IOC on the candidature would resume when appropriate.
“We all understand there are pressing issues of public health and community wellbeing for governments to address. The candidature will have its role to play in terms of jobs and growth in the Queensland economy once we have seen our way through the current crisis,” added Coates.
Queensland Premier Annastascia Palaszczuk had confirmed the decision to postpone their work on the bid in a letter to the state parliament on Friday, The Australian newspaper reported.
“As Queensland’s and Australia’s focus has been placed on responding to coronavirus (the candidature leadership group) agreed that the 2032 Games candidature discussions be put on hold until further notice,” Palaszczuk wrote.
