SYDNEY, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The location of the main stadium for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be announced in March, the government of the Australian state of Queensland said on Tuesday.

Jarrod Bleijie, the deputy premier of Queensland, told the state's parliament that "all will be revealed" when the government announces the stadium plan on March 25 following years of debate.

An ongoing independent review of infrastructure for the Games is set to hand its final report to the government on March 8.

The report will make a recommendation on whether to build a new stadium and where athletics will be held for the Games. The state government will liaise with partners including the federal government and International Olympic Committee before signing off on the plan.

Bleijie said the plan would "get the Games back on track" after three years of delays.

"Queenslanders no longer want to be embarrassed on the world stage," he said. "We will deliver a 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games our state can be proud of and showcase what makes us a great state on the world stage."

Premier of Queensland David Crisafulli established the independent 100-day review shortly after his Liberal National Party won power in the 2024 state election.

The initial plan for the 2032 Games, which were awarded to Brisbane in 2021, was to rebuild the 37,000-seat Brisbane Cricket Ground in the city's inner southern suburbs as a 50,000-seat venue.

Former Premier Steven Miles in March 2024 announced that the reconstruction plan had been scrapped after the estimated cost of the project increased from one billion Australian dollars (635.1 million U.S. dollars) to 2.7 billion AUD (1.7 billion USD).

Instead, he said that the Queensland Sports and Athletics Center located 10 kilometers south of central Brisbane and Lang Park - a rectangular 52,500-seat stadium in the city's inner suburbs - would be refurbished.

Crisafulli promised in the lead-up to the 2024 election that there would be no new stadiums for the Games under a government led by him. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)