SASOC Leads Olympic Preparations

The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) hosted a two-day continental meeting to discuss preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Johannesburg. 

The meeting saw officials from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) meeting with representatives of National Olympic Committees (NOC’s) from 14 African countries.

Delegates traveled from afar a field as Ghana and Libya, and from neighbouring Botswana, Lesotho and Mozambique. The meeting was organised by Olympic Solidarity and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), tasked to organize and coordinate the preparation and participation of Africa in the Olympic Games.

The IOC, which was founded in 1894, is the supreme body responsible for the Olympic Games. The meeting started with a presentation of guidelines on team preparation, apparel and athlete selection.

They also laid down parameters in terms of trademarks, television broadcast rights and the rights of sponsors. The forum was then opened to comments and suggestion from the delegates, and Beijing’s preparations for next years Olympic Games was discussed.

There are less than nine months to go to the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games and preparations are at an advanced stage. Thousands of athletes and officials will descend on the already crowded city of Beijing and logistical organization presents the BOCOG with a mammoth task.

A presentation was made by the organizing committee detailing accommodation and catering preparations at the Olympic Village, whilst transportation was identified as a major challenge.

The organisers are definitely on top of their game and have managed to dedicate special lanes only for Olympic traffic. Delegates were briefed on access points, protocol, security and medical arrangements for the large number of sporting codes, with competition taking place in seven different cities.

Olympic Solidarity was formed in 1961, to organise assistance to NOC’s and Continental Associations like ANOCA with their efforts for the development of sport through programmes carefully devised to match their specific needs and priorities.