Australia is back in the race to host the 2007 world swimming championships, with Melbourne re-entering the bidding on Wednesday, just three months after deeming it was too costly to stage the event.
Melbourne was rated favourite to win the championships ahead of Rio de Janeiro and the United Arab Emirates before the state government of Victoria withdrew its bid in March.
That decision came two days after the state’s 2006 Commonwealth Games budget blow-out of AU$350-million dollars ($235-million) was revealed.
But talks between Australian Swimming and the Victorian Major Events Corporation have paved the way for a change of heart, with a new deal agreed on Wednesday.
It is understood Australian Swimming has offered Victoria what amounts to a more lucrative deal, including national trials in the lead-up to the 2006 Commonwealth Games and other international swimming events.
”It will include international events and would take us up until 2008,” Australian Swimming president John Devitt said on Wednesday.
”But it depends to a large degree on whether or not our bid is successful.”
Devitt said Melbourne’s on-again, off-again interest would not affect the bid, which had been completed before the state government’s initial decision to withdraw in March.
”There’s always been an Australian Swimming bid for the championships and we had the right to determine which city went forward,” he said.
The cost of staging a world championship in Melbourne is estimated to be between AU$30-40-million dollars ($20-27-million).
A final decision on which of the three venues will host the 2007 world championships will be made on July 12 in Barcelona — just before this year’s event.
Australia hosted the world championships in Perth in 1991 and 1998. – Sapa-AFP