RIO DE JANEIRO - A delegation consisting of members of the Commission in charge of preparing the candidature of Rio de Janeiro to host the Olympic Games of 2016 participates up to Friday, 19, in Lausanne (Switzerland), in a seminar of organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the process of pre-candidature of the cities wishing to host the competition (Rio, Baku, Chicago, Doha, Madrid, Prague and Tokyo).

The event, held in the Olympic Museum, is the first to gather representatives of the seven cities intending to host the Olympic Games and IOC members. The seminar aims at clarifying to the cities all aspects involving the organization of the Games, making easy the submission of answers to the candidature application form, which must be delivered to the IOC up to January 14, 2008, together with the guarantee letters.

The IOC will announce the cities that will be official candidates to receive the Games in the beginning of June 2008, in Athens (Greece). The elected cities must prepare the full dossier of candidature, also delivering a full notebook containing the guarantees up to 2009. The election of the host city of the 2016 Games is scheduled to October 2, 2009, in Copenhagen (Denmark).

The seminar in Lausanne started on Monday, 15, when the delegation of Rio 2016, presided over by the President of the Brazilian Olympic Committee and the Commission in charge of the pre-candidature of Rio de Janeiro, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, participated in four sessions that discussed issues related to the Olympic Games, such as transport system, Olympic village, the importance of partners, sports and athletes.

In addition to Nuzman, the Brazilian delegation is formed by Carlos Roberto Osório, Secretary General of the Commission; Agberto Guimarães, Sport Director; Mario Cilenti, Technical Director; Leonardo Gryner, Marketing Director; Sergio Lobo, Financial and Administrative Director; and Ana Luiza Pinheiro, Legal Advisor.

In order to show the support from the three government levels to Rio de Janeiro's intent to host the 2016 Games, the following persons will also participate in the seminar held in Lausanne: Ricardo Leiser Gonçalves, representative of the Federal Government, Fernando Sihman (Rio de Janeiro Government) and Claudio Versiani (Rio de Janeiro City Hall).