From inception of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2010, Asia and South America have hosted the gathering of youth across the world and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recognized the need to take the multi-sports fiesta to Africa.
The approval for Africa to host the 2022 edition of YOG was made by members at the IOC Session, following the recommendation of the IOC’s Executive Board earlier this week.
In a statement issued by IOC Wednesday the world Olympic body is spreading its net to African National Olympic Committees (NOCs) as potential host cities of the fourth edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2022.
According to the statement, a targeted approach based on the principle adopted by the IOC Session in 2016 will replace the competitive stage seen for previous YOG host city selections, making the process more streamlined, simpler and shorter.
Part of this evolution is to ensure the event is accessible to a greater number of cities, which will be encouraged to make full use of existing and temporary venues. The goal is to elect the host city at the next IOC Session, to be held in October 2018 in Buenos Aires, ahead of the YOG.
This approach has been taken in line with a recent YOG review, to ensure a more impactful and effective concept for young elite athletes, and for host cities.
IOC President Thomas Bach said, “Africa is the home of so many very successful Olympic athletes. Africa is a continent of youth. That is why we want to take the Youth Olympic Games 2022 to Africa. The IOC will proactively approach a number of African NOCs to evaluate the feasibility of such a project.”
The next few weeks will see the IOC engaging with selected African NOCs to establish the feasibility of staging the Youth Olympic Games 2022.