Chris Ball, CEO of the Cape Town 2004 Olympic Bid=20 Company for one month now, talks to Julian Drew about=20 the current state of the bid
CHRIS BALL believes the 2004 Olympic Games “is quite=20 simply the biggest economic opportunity that South=20 Africa will ever have”.
It is for this reason that he decided to apply for the=20 position of CEO of the Bid Company. Ball, former chief=20 executive of First National Bank, likes to talk about=20 the economic multiplier effects of the Olympic Games.=20 “In terms of the Olympic Games, the pre-multipliers are=20 real and particularly clear in terms of South Africa.=20
“The Games would change the view of the world towards=20 South Africa. It would be a technical award made to=20 South Africa which would say that the world believes we=20 can in fact stage the Games. This in itself would=20 produce direct foreign investment in South Africa and=20 change the level of confidence in the country.
“Then you would get a very dramatic increase in tourism=20 from the time we start bidding for the Games. This=20 would increase significantly when the Games are=20 awarded. So the return on investment expenditure, on a=20 national basis, is extremely high and there is every=20 justification for saying that the expenditure should in=20 fact be made,” says Ball.
But while Ball’s fiscal background may lead him to=20 stress the economic benefits of staging the Games, he=20 is acutely aware that they are not the only ones. “You=20 can take a broad view of the Olympics which is what the=20 President has done. President Mandela thinks the impact=20 of the Games will be substantial.
“I like to use the term transformational because the=20 Games will impact on attitudes; they will assist the=20 process of nation building; they will change the view=20 of the world towards South Africa and they will have a=20 major economic impact,” he claims.=20
The bad publicity caused by all the infighting over the=20 bid earlier this year is now behind us, Ball believes,=20 and since his appointment he has concentrated on=20 getting the right team together to get the process on=20 track again.=20
“What we’ve done in the last two weeks is to refocus=20 the bid. We have the beginnings of a strategic concept=20 that now needs to be agreed to by the constituents,=20 including the board of directors. We have a budget for=20 the Bid Company which will be published in about a=20 week’s time as soon as it is approved by the board. We=20 have a management team in place. We have shifted the=20 physical identity of the bid by redesigning the bid=20 logo and we have set in motion the planning process. So=20 there has been a significant amount of activity in this=20 period,” says Ball. =20
Although the new logo cannot be published yet, it gives=20 the bid a stronger African identity as opposed to the=20 previous logo which focused on Cape Town through its=20 depiction of Table Mountain.
The question which begs to be answered, however, is=20 whether we now have sufficient time left to put=20 together a winning technical proposal by the August 15=20 deadline next year after losing six months earlier this=20 year. “I think we can still meet the deadlines, but the=20 main thing is that we must put forward a pragmatic=20 proposal,” says Ball=20
“It must be a very practical Games with practical=20 facilities which are going to be used thereafter. It is=20 on that basis that we are putting the proposal=20
The Interim Bid Committee, which employed private=20 consultants to do the planning work, did a lot of=20 groundwork and that is now being reviewed by the new=20 team. “The work that’s been done so far is conceptual=20 rather than detailed engineering. There has been a=20 benefit from what has already taken place but all of it=20 has had to be reviewed. What we will produce is a new=20 plan but naturally it is based on an awareness of the=20 previous work.
“One of the problems with the previous concept is that=20 it was done without reference to the council and the=20 council has to approve the plan. There will be a fresh=20 plan with council people involved which will be fully=20 costed and we are doing that work as quickly as we=20 can,” revealed Ball. One hundred and fifty Western Cape=20 organisations have been invited to a conference taking=20 place this weekend in Cape Town to discuss the concept=20 of the Olympics and the process that will be followed.=20
Ball sees the immediate targets for the Bid Company as=20 raising the money for the bid, completing and costing=20 the new plan, carrying out the economic impact study of=20 the Games on South Africa as a whole, liaising with the=20 international federations to ensure that they are up to=20 date with all the latest requirements and communicating=20 with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) members=20 in preparation for the actual bidding process.=20
While the budget for the bid should be ready in about a=20 week and the strategic plan in about a month, the Bid=20 Company aims to have the new technical plan and the=20 economic impact study available in three months’ time=20 which, as Ball says,”is a big, big exercise”.=20
Ball is extremely optimistic about Cape Town’s=20 prospects of winning the bid. “We have four very strong=20 elements out of which to build a platform to launch our=20 bid. Cape Town’s physical environment is the key but we=20 also have the present goodwill towards South Africa=20 personified by President Mandela’s standing in the=20 world. Then there is the African factor which is very=20 important because Africans have nearly 20 percent of=20 the IOC votes, and finally there is the development=20 factor. =20
“I actually believe that Cape Town could put on simply=20 the most enjoyable Olympic Games imaginable and with=20 the natural environment of the Western Cape I can’t=20 think of anywhere else in the world where people could=20 have more fun,” says Ball.=20
There is certainly a very strong case in favour of Cape=20 Town but one of the first tasks now will be to=20 reconvince a rather disillusioned local populace who=20 have been fed an unhealthy diet of selective=20 disinformation over the past six months.=20
Then there is the “big, big exercise” to get to grips=20 with and, finally, the small matter of convincing the=20 IOC’s 106 members that Cape Town is the place they=20 would best like to spend a three-week vacation in nine=20 years’ time.