2032 Brisbane Olympics organizers tap a Paris Games executive, announce it under the Eiffel Tower

PARIS (AP) — Organizers of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics have recruited a chief commercial officer, an appointment they announced Friday while he was working at the Paris Games.

Francois-Xavier Bonnaillie, director of partnership and licensing for the Paris Games, will be moving to Australia in November to join the executive group of the Brisbane 2032 team.

Brisbane 2032 CEO Cindy Hook confirmed the appointment during a news conference outside the Australian embassy in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower as streams of spectators walked to and from the nearby Olympic beach volleyball venue.

Brisbane is in line to host the Summer Games after Paris, which opened last Friday with a spectacular ceremony highlighting the city's famous landmarks, and Los Angeles in 2028.

The IOC awarded the 2032 Games to Australia's third-largest city in 2021 ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, giving a long lead time to prepare under the so-called new normal guidelines.

Andrew Liveris, president of the 2032 organizing committee, has said he's envisioned an Olympics more like Barcelona in 1992 than London, Tokyo, Paris or Los Angeles, given the scale of the cities involved.

“We've talked about Paris 2024, we've talked about LA 2028. But Brisbane 2032 is arriving," Liveris said. "We're here in Paris, we're learning and one of the most important things (Bonnaillie's) appointment will do, besides bringing us a different accent, is of course doing what he's done so well here in Paris."

Preparations so far have been overshadowed by uncertainty over the main Olympic venue after the Queensland state government, which is the main backer of the Games, pulled plans to demolish and rebuild the so-called Gabba stadium.

In true Australian style, the organizers already have embrace Bonnaillie's nickname and repeatedly referred to him as “FX” throughout the news conference.

Hook is an American executive who was CEO of Deloitte Asia Pacific in 2022 when she was hired to return to Australia, where she'd lived from 2009 until moving to Singapore.

Bonnaillie is Hook's first top-level appointment.

“Francois-Xavier brings an impressive and broad international commercial background to the role, together with a unique understanding of the task ahead to raise significant sponsorship revenue for Brisbane 2032,” Hook said in a statement. “I’m confident the success that Francois-Xavier and his team have delivered to the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee will carry through to a new country, market and the Brisbane 2032 Games.”

Organizers have set a 2 billion Australian dollar ($1.3 billion) commercial revenue target for the Games.

“The good news is, that's in the Australian dollar!” Bonnaillie responded quickly to a question Friday. “No, it’s a challenge. But I think there’s a lot of potential."

“I have a fond connection with Brisbane, having traveled to the city for business many times,” Bonnaillie said. “I have seen significant growth take shape across the region, and that was one of the main attractions."

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games