Will Incheon’s win come at cost of Olympics bid and heavy taxes?
Officials behind Incheon’s bid efforts for the 2014 Asian Games celebrate in Kuwait last week after the city was chosen. [YONHAP]
But now that the celebration has died down after the city was chosen to host the 2014 Asian Games, the country’s third-most populated city has two challenges. It must attempt to turn a profit on the 16-day event, whose 4.9 trillion won ($5.3 billion) cost is heavily subsidized by taxpayers, and avoid cannibalizing Pyeongchang’s bid to host the Olympic Games the same year.
According to the Web site of the Incheon Asian Games Bidding Committee, a little more than 54 percent of the funding, or about 2.7 trillion won of the total, will come from the Incheon municipal government. The rest will be covered by central government grants and corporate sponsorships.
The city plans to increase taxes to pay the bills, but hasn’t yet said how or by how much.
“It’s not just about paying more taxes; we look at it as making an investment for the sake of Incheon’s future,” said Park Nam-kyu, the committee’s secretary general. “We will build sports facilities that will be opened to the public after the Asian Games and will enhance the quality of life. New infrastructure will also give us opportunities to attract foreign investment. We won’t be wasting the tax money.”
Can Incheon turn a profit?
Incheon officials last year commissioned the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy to punch some numbers, and the result showed Incheon stands to profit 100 billion won when revenue from broadcasting rights, advertising, ticket and lottery sales during the games are included.
Busan turned in 50 billion won in net profits after the 2002 Asian Games. However, advertising and ticket sales figures are difficult to predict, and Incheon is just as likely to lose money.
The Munhak World Cup Stadium in Incheon, seen here in 2002 just before its opening, was used during the 2002 World Cup in Korea. It will be the main venue for the 2014 Asian Games. [YONHAP]
Incheon will construct several new venues for the Asian Games, but also plans to use existing facilities in the nearby cities of Bucheon, Goyang and Ansan, all in Gyeonggi province.
The 4.9 trillion won cost does not include Incheon’s pledge to pay for the airfare and accommodation costs for all of the delegations, which will cost another 20 billion won.
The offer was Incheon’s response to a proposal by its rival, the Indian capital of New Delhi, that it would not only cover all of the travel and accommodation expenses, but provide grants of $200,000 through 2008 to the national Olympic committees in all 45 member nations of the Olympic Council of Asia, or OCA.
But the money didn’t translate into more votes for New Delhi, which hosted the first-ever Asian Games in 1951, and was looking for its third Asiad.
Incheon defeated New Delhi, 32-13.
Park, the Incheon official, said his colleagues had expected about 30 votes in their favor. Their Indian counterparts, meanwhile, had apparently counted on similar support.
The Indian Times reported last week that 12 hours before the vote at the OCA General Assembly in Kuwait, the Indian delegation said it had 18 written commitments of support, along with eight verbal assurances.
Park said he came across several voters who told him they would support Incheon, but added, “We sort of knew which ones were just being polite and which ones were our real supporters.”
Another Indian newspaper, the Hindustan Times, reported that New Delhi’s loss caused the Indian Olympic Association’s president, Suresh Kalmadi, to lash out at sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar.
About a week before the voting, the sports minister opposed the bid, saying hosting a big sporting event like the Asian Games would not help India’s poor.
Kalmadi sarcastically pointed out that the loss to Incheon was “a victory for Mani Shankar Aiyar,” according to the Hindustan Times, and blamed the minister for creating the impression that India was divided.
Aiyar responded that he had nothing to say about Kalmadi’s remarks, but added that the money saved from organizing the Asiad could now be used to construct sports facilities for underprivileged youth.
Meanwhile, voters are asking how much is too much for Korea. The country is 2-for-2 this year in its ambitious plans to be selected to host four international events.
Besides Incheon, Daegu was selected in March as the host of the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. Yeosul, in South Jeolla province, will learn in November if it won the World Expo in 2012.
And then there’s Pyeongchang, in Gangwon province, making its second attempt to win the Winter Olympics, this time in 2014.
No country has ever hosted an Asiad and a Winter Olympics in the same year. Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will select the host in early July.
Park admitted Incheon’s victory might prove to be a blow to Pyeongchang’s bid, because the pro-Indian faction in the IOC could lobby against the selection.
India’s only IOC member, Randhir Singh, is also the secretary general of the OCA.
On the other hand, he said, “I understand that many IOC members still want to promote the development of winter sports in Asia” by backing Pyeongchang’s bid, and that “the OCA will be on Pyeongchang’s side regardless of Incheon’s selection as the host of the Asian Games.”
Park added he is “confident” that Pyeongchang will be voted the host, thanks to its experience in bidding and to the nationwide support.
Meanwhile, an official from the Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games Bid Committee, who requested anonymity, noted that the International Olympic Committee will vote for the host of the Winter Olympics and that it is a different body from the OCA, which selects Asiad host cities.
Still, at least two of the 114 IOC members think Pyeongchang’s dreams have been dashed. Agence France-Presse last Sunday quoted two anonymous IOC members ― an Asian and a European ― as saying Daegu’s and Incheon’s winning bids to host other international events hurts Pyeongchang’s chances.
The Asian member said, “Incheon winning the right to host the Asian Games has killed Pyeongchang’s bid, because there is no way Asian IOC members will tolerate Korea having both the Asian Games . . . and having the most prestigious sports event of that year, the Winter Olympics.”
On the other hand, one IOC insider anonymously told AFP something Pyeongchang officials would like to hear. He said that Incheon’s winning of the Asian Games bid, on top of Daegu’s world athletics event, shows the strength of Korea’s bidding for events. “One could say nothing could stop them,” he said.
“Apart from the 20 Asian IOC members, there are enough of the other members out there who couldn’t care about the fact that [Korea] won the Asian Games bid,” the insider said. “Others believe that the Koreans have the bidding process down to a fine art through the use of their embassies around the world and their multinational companies.”
By Yoo Jee-ho Staff Writer [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)