THE HOBART ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES TODAY

ANNOUNCED THAT IT WOULD NO LONGER BE REFERRED TO AS H.O.C.O.G AND

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY WOULD BE NOW KNOWN AS THE HOBART ORGANISING

GROUP FOR MAJOR EVENTS (H.O.G.M.E). THIS COMES IN LIGHT OF RECENT

COMMENTS AND CONCERNS REGARDING THEIR NAME AS THEY ATTEMPT TO

BRING AN OLYMPIC GAMES TO HOBART IN THE FUTURE.

Throughout the history of the group, their bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games has brought

significant attention to the cause as well as the city of Hobart. This has been done with no formal

backing from any government be it city, state or federal and without the support of the Tasmanian or

Australian Olympic committee. The re-branding of the group has been done to not only avoid the

apparent breaching of copyright but also to create the future possibilities of other major events to be

sought after by the group.

“Obviously it is disappointing to have to change our name after getting as far as we have come with it

without having any issues but we are in it for the long haul and hope to be at the forefront of attracting

major events to Hobart for a long time yet,” HOGME president Ben Waterworth says. “The comments

by Tasmanian Olympic Council President Richard Watson did come as a surprise to us as we have yet

to receive any official complaints by either the TOC or AOC in regards to our name, however to avoid

potential future problems we feel that changing our name is the best option in that regards.”

“It has been impossible for our group to meet the strict IOC and AOC protocols involved with an

Olympic bid without the support of either group, however we are fully aware of the protocols that need

to be followed and we are looking forward to discussing this at length with Mr.Watson this week. And

while his comments in

The Age yesterday in regards to our bid are disappointing, we do not see this as a

deterrent for our campaign and will continue to push forward with our bid right up until the May

deadline for submissions for the 2020 games. If this date comes and goes without our bid being

successful on to the next stage, we will then switch focus to a bid for the 2022 Youth Olympics.”

Over the remaining 2 months before the May 16th deadline for submissions to the IOC in hosting the

2020 Olympics, HOGME are planning a public rally of support as well as a large campaign focussed on

getting the relevant support needed in order to submit a bid. Its Facebook page currently is the 4th most

popular 2020 Olympic Bidding page and the support of the bid reaches to over 62 countries worldwide.

The Hobart 2020 Olympic bid also hopes to announce some very exciting developments over the

coming weeks. For more information on the bid please visit

www.hobart2020.org
Ben Waterworth