Paris ups 2008 Olympic bid

The economic benefits of staging the Games are huge

Organisers of the 2008 Paris Olympic bid say the city will stage the best ever Games.

Their bold claim comes just months after International Olympic Committee (IOC) chairman Juan Antonio Samaranch described the Games in Sydney as "the best Olympic Games ever".

Claude Bebear, the leader of the bid team, said: "With apologies to Sydney, but we aim to make the Paris Olympics the best in history."

The IOC are due to meet in July next year to decide which city will hold the 29th Olympiad.

When they announced the shortlist they said our case was the best, but we know we still have a lot of work to do

  Paris bid chief
Claude Bebear

But Paris faces stiff competition from Beijing, Osaka, Toronto and Istanbul.

Bebear, however, is hoping the international business community will use its considerable power to make Paris the frontrunner.

'Excellent' bid

"We need the influence of those who have contacts with the international community and with the 130 members of the IOC who are going to vote next July," he said.

"We are not allowed to make contact with the voting panel ourselves."

Bebear, who heads part of the Group of Public Interests which is behind the French bid, said the IOC had already described Paris' bid as "excellent".

"When they announced the shortlist of the five cities in August, they said our case was the best, but we know we still have a lot of work to do," he said.

A poster from the last Olympics held in Paris

One factor which may hinder the Paris bid is a commonly-held belief that the Games must be rotated every four years between continents.

With the 2004 games set to be staged in Athens that would favour the Asian cities of Beijing and Osaka.

But Bebear dismissed the claims, suggesting the IOC would chose the city on merit rather than geography.

Economic boost

"That argument has no real base. We aim to show that Paris will be best for the athletes and the public, regardless of the fact that Athens will host the 2004 Olympics," he said.

It will boost the image of France in the eyes of the world, and prove that Paris taxi drivers aren't all that bad

  Claude Bebear

The French capital held the Games in 1900 and 1924 and also ran an unsuccessful bid for the 1992 Games awarded to Barcelona.

The cost for the project is estimated at £1.88bn, providing a huge economic boost for the region of Ile-de-France.

But Bebear believes the Games would benefit the nation as a whole.

"Most importantly it will boost the image of France in the eyes of the world, and it will prove that Paris taxi drivers aren't all that bad."