Lausanne (Switzerland), Jun 27 (IANS): The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday approved a round of reforms to the bidding process and hosting arrangements for the Summer and Winter Games.
The IOC has decided to revoke the seven-year time frame of choosing the hosting city and allow the Games to be spread out instead of being limited to mainly one city, Efe news reported.
"This is the evolution of the Olympic Agenda 2020 revolution, as we must continue to keep up with the fast pace of change in our current world," IOC President Thomas Bach said, according to the organization's website.
"Flexibility is a necessity to ensure good governance and to have sustainable Olympic Games in the future.
"We will do that while maintaining the magic of the Games, the fundamental principle of universality and our commitment to having athletes at the center of everything we do," he said.
The reforms, approved during the 134th IOC session in the Swiss city of Lausanne, represent a drastic change in the process of electing venues.
The new Olympic Charter says the host may no longer be a single location but rather "cities, regions and/or countries".
The changes also include the creation of two new bodies, namely the Future Host Commissions, to replace the evaluation commissions for each edition of the Games.
These commissions would approach possible hosts as well as recommend them to the IOC executive board.
The reforms were unanimously approved amid an Olympic crisis as more cities lose interest in hosting the Games due to the high cost it involves.
For example, only two candidates (Paris and Los Angeles) presented their bids in 2017 for the 2024 Games, which led the IOC to award the 2024 edition to the French capital and the 2028 one to the US city.
The 2022 and 2026 Winter Games were also settled between two candidates, Beijing and Milan respectively.
This reform in the bidding process is considered the most important since the major changes made in the wake of the 2002 Winter Games bid bribery scandal.
The organization not only expelled those involved in the bribery allegations, but also banned all members from visiting cities seeking to host Games.