Chapter 303: Chapter 267: Obtaining Hosting Rights

“The athletes who participated in the Olympic Games last year will also be handed over to you. With their help, establishing a sports department should be easier,” Arthur thought for a moment and continued to add.

Upon hearing this, Minister Grant also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, it is not easy to build a sports system from scratch in two years, let alone showcasing it directly on the world stage such as the Olympic Games.

With the foundation of last year’s Australasian athletes participating in the Olympic Games, at least athletes can be trained more swiftly and quickly, and the number and scale of athletes will be supported first.

As for the matter of sports medals, shouldn’t these athletes who have trained for another four years achieve some results?

“If Australasia’s sports development is doing well, the government may consider establishing a sports department. Minister Grant, I allow you to recommend a candidate for the Minister of Sports in the future, but the prerequisite is to build up Australasia’s sports. At least achieve some results in the future Olympic Games, understand?” Arthur looked at Grant with a slightly profound smile.

Upon hearing this, Minister Grant immediately nodded and promised, “I understand, Your Majesty. Please rest assured that I will try my best to train at least a few hundred athletes for the country to participate in the Olympic Games before the Olympics, so that our scale will not be inferior to the previous London Olympics.”

Arthur nodded and signaled Minister Grant to go ahead.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs acted quickly, and perhaps because of the good relationship with Australasia, Germany did not hide its attitude, expressing directly to Minister Andrew that Germany would abandon its hosting rights for the next Olympic Games.

Minister Andrew seized the opportunity to make a request. In view of the good relationship between Germany and Australasia, after consulting with William II, the German government and sports department agreed to Australasia’s request, and a few days before Christmas, they publicly declared that Germany would give up its hosting rights for the next Olympic Games and openly hinted that Australasia was suitable to be the hosting country.

It must be said that the faces of the Powers are indeed quite big.

The day before Christmas, the International Olympic Committee sent a telegram to the Australasian government asking if Australasia could build a stadium that could accommodate at least 40,000 people and make every effort to promote the Olympic Games and invite more countries to participate. The International Olympic Committee is willing to transfer Germany’s hosting rights for the Olympic Games to Australasia.

Because Australasia does not have a sports department, the International Olympic Committee’s inquiry was directly sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Secretary Andrew, upon receiving the telegram, immediately consulted with Arthur.

As for the conditions of the International Olympic Committee, Arthur agreed without even thinking.

After all, sports have been valued by countries around the world to this day, and the development of sports in Australasia is also an inevitable trend.

Whether or not the Olympics can be held, it is necessary to build a large-scale, tens of thousands of people-capacity sports venue.

For some European immigrants who enjoy sports, the popularity of various sports may also be one of the reasons for choosing immigration.

As for the remaining conditions of vigorous promotion and inviting other countries, any Olympic host country will definitely do it and will do it wholeheartedly.

After all, no country holds the Olympic Games for charity, and politicians and nobles of this era do not have this kind of consciousness.

In addition to the strong demands of the people, the main reason why countries hold the Olympic Games is actually the need to expand national interests and external influence.

After spending a wonderful Christmas with his family, the response telegram from the International Olympic Committee arrived on the second day of Christmas.

They congratulated Australasia on obtaining the 1912 Olympic Games hosting rights and stated that after the announcement, the International Olympic Committee would send a team to Australasia to help with venue construction and prepare for the Olympic Games in two and a half years, while also supervising Australasia’s venue construction, as the hosting of the Olympic Games also concerns the reputation and status of the International Olympic Committee.

A successful Olympic Games can not only greatly enhance the prestige and status of the host country but also greatly enhance the influence and status of the International Olympic Committee.

This also means that Australasia and the International Olympic Committee are now on the same boat. If the Olympics are not well-organized, not only will Australasia’s prestige suffer losses, but other countries will gradually take the Olympic Games lightly.

But if this Olympic Games is well-organized, not only will Australasia’s external influence and international status be improved, but the International Olympic Committee’s influence will also be greatly enhanced.

Of course, the arrival of the International Olympic Committee actually has another more important purpose, which is to negotiate the specific events for the next Olympic Games with the host country.

Even in later generations of the Olympic Games, host countries will have some privileges, and they can decide whether or not to hold a small number of sports events on their own.

This also means that future host countries will be able to hold events in which their country excels and cancel those in which other countries excel.

Of course, this privilege is even more apparent in this era. Take, for example, the 1912 Swedish Olympic Games, which eliminated events such as boxing, freestyle wrestling, weightlifting, field hockey, and archery for the reason that these sports were detrimental to health, prone to injury, and not widely practiced.

Although the reasons seemed formal, perhaps only the host country at the time and the International Olympic Committee knew the specifics of the cancellations.

However, such regulations are basically taken for granted, after all, a country spends a lot of money and resources to host an Olympic Games, and if the national committee does not make some concessions, who would be willing to waste their time?

Arthur’s ambitions were not large either, and with dozens of Olympic events, he only needed to judiciously cancel five that Australasia was not good at and replace them with events in which domestic athletes excelled.

As for the remaining regulations on hosting the Olympic Games, officials and the International Relations Committee can discuss them.

As long as it does not harm Australasia’s interests, some concessions can be made.

After all, Arthur’s main goal is to increase the influence of Australasia through this Olympic Games.

If the changes are too drastic and many countries are unwilling to participate, then it would be a case of not worth the effort.

According to Arthur’s memory, the 1912 Olympic Games in history, used electronic timing and finishing cameras in many events, significantly increasing the accuracy of the timings and resolving disputes over finishing order.

These improvements are very meaningful for sports, and if conditions permit, there is nothing wrong with such improvements happening at Australasia’s Olympic Games.

Because telegrams could only be used for brief communication, Minister Grant negotiated with the International Olympic Committee, and they agreed to have a more detailed discussion after the other side arrives in Australasia.

However, it was necessary to officially announce the transfer of hosting rights, and Minister Grant even prepared to promote the Olympic Games now.

At the end of December, after Christmas, the International Olympic Committee publicly announced that due to Germany voluntarily cancelling its hosting rights for the Olympic Games, the decision was made after the committee’s research, and with Germany’s strong recommendation and abiding by Germany’s wishes, Germany’s hosting rights were transferred to Australasia.

The 5th Olympic Games will be held as scheduled in Australasia, with the date roughly from May to July 1912, and the location in Sydney, the capital of Australasia.

By this time, the influence of the International Olympic Committee was not small, so many people, sports organizations, and countries officially paid attention to the Olympic Games after the IOC issued a formal statement.

Olympic Games have evolved into a form of peaceful struggle for some countries, and sports have gradually gained political influence.

Put simply, if Britain and Germany jointly participate in the Olympic Games, the athletes of these two countries will naturally become competitors and enemies.

The only reason is that their countries are in a competitive state and the intensity of competition is extremely exaggerated.

Even if they are friendly to each other, they will be forced to confront each other under the pressure of domestic and international media public opinion and the expectations of the people.

If they fail in such a big event, it would not just be their loss, but also the loss of the media and the people who supported them behind the scenes.

The peaceful competition in sports can also turn into a struggle for politics and national dignity.

After the International Olympic Committee’s public announcement, Arthur immediately convened the Cabinet to develop a plan for the construction of sports venues as soon as possible and asked the Ministry of Finance to prepare sufficient funds.

As expected, the construction of sports venues is not a small investment, with the added costs of extensive domestic and foreign publicity, the reception of athletes and organizations from other countries, the hosting of the Olympic Games, the awarding of medals, and the procurement of equipment.

Arthur also had specific requirements for the scale of venue construction this time, with the sports venue needing to accommodate at least 45,000 people and ensuring its use for at least several decades or even a hundred years.

Arthur didn’t want the painstakingly constructed sports venue to become a dangerous building in a short period, especially as it was related to national prestige.