The contrast is quite remarkable. Instead of the neatness of Zurich, you have the winds of Chicago. Media coverage is also a little different. Instead of live feeds on all the national television stations, you’ll be lucky to hear the result mentioned on Gauteng radio stations on Monday morning. And those who like to play spot-the-celeb will be disappointed. Unless Dame Elton John puts in a guest appearance, there’s unlikely to be anyone you recognise.
But for the Johannesburg Gay Games bid delegation, the agony of suspense in Chicago this weekend will be as intense as it was for Danny Jordaan and his soccer World Cup 2010 team in Switzerland last year.
At 11pm on Sunday, the Federation of Gay Games will decide whether Jo’burg, Paris or Cologne will host the eighth quadrennial edition of its jamboree — and there will be a lot of straight people, mostly involved in tourism, also holding thumbs for South Africa to be awarded its second major sporting event for 2010.
Another deviation from the soccer blueprint is that one of the driving forces behind the bid will not be present to hear the decision first-hand. Former professional tennis player Tanya Harford, co-chair of the bid committee with James Mathias, is organising next weekend’s 94.7 Cycle Race and was unable to travel to Chicago.
As this suggests, putting together the bid has been a labour of love for most of those involved. They have had to juggle finding sites and facilities for more than 30 sporting codes with their regular jobs. The entire bid cost just less than R850 000 to put together — including hosting the federation’s site inspection team in August.
With at least 11 000 participants (nearly treble that of the Olympic Games) and an equivalent number of spectators, the prospect of having the Gay Games to keep hotels, restaurants and nightspots full a few weeks after the World Cup is a tourism promoter’s heaven — which is why the city and its tourism office have thrown their full weight behind the bid. The Johannesburg Tourism Company offices in Rosebank are bid headquarters.
Far more spectators will come to South Africa for the soccer World Cup, but which teams are based in which city will only be known after the draw in December 2009. As the host country playing the opening match at Soccer City, and with the South African Football Association based in Johannesburg, it is possible that, for the group stages at least, the city will be the base for Bafana Bafana and a couple of “minnows”. That’s great for Gauteng fans, but not so good for the tourism trade.
The fact that the Gay Games are a single-city event (although some sports, such as ice hockey and figure-skating, might be held in Pretoria) allows for more detailed planning to take place earlier. And, as Sydney (2002, the most recent Gay Games) discovered, participants and spectators bring in plenty of pink dollars/euros/pick your currency.
Harford is optimistic about Johannesburg’s chances, saying the country’s Constitution, which outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation, was a major selling point — as was the full support of the city government and messages of support from luminaries including Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Although Cologne’s hat is still in the ring, the German city did not feature well in the site inspection, and the South Africans see it as a straight fight with Paris. But the recent riots in France might put off delegates to the federation’s annual meeting, who will cast their votes on Sunday in Chicago — the venue for next year’s games. A bit ironic, that, since security concerns usually count against South Africa, not European nations.
The fact that the estimated cost of holding the event in Johannesburg will, at $7million, be half that of the French destination also counts strongly in South Africa’s favour.
Yes, we’re definitely not in Zurich any more. We hope the outcome is the same, though.