Speaking this afternoon following the SportAccord General Assembly, President Marius Vizer revealed Abu Dhabi had already submitted a formal application to host the event and a Memorandum of Understanding has been proposed by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council following a meeting here this week.

But he added that "because we have two other candidates we have to postpone our decision to give a chance also to Sochi and Durban after technical inspections made by our directors".

Vizer claimed delays had been caused by the fact that, because he only officially became President last September, it has not been easy to find time to visit all the contenders.

He did not elaborate on exactly when the decision will be announced. 

SportAccord President Marius Vizer is confident that the 2015 event will be similarly successful
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But, following the revelation earlier in the week that the Convention will undergo a radical overhaul and could be more than three times bigger than this year's event, Vizer expressed confidence this will only increase its success.

"It's not easy but with this young team we are faster than you can believe and when we start, we achieve the final aim," Vizer predicted.

"What I'm thinking, and what we are thinking and also discussing, is to increase the size, the complexity and the content of the Convention.

"We can develop and what we are looking towards is to increase the number of participants from 7,000 to 10,000.

"We can create a unique Convention in content and complexity."

Vizer also expressed his hope to engage further with National Olympic Committees and with International Federations as well as adding a greater cultural, artistic and educational dimension.

He also claimed the price for attending the Convention will not rise and he hopes the changes will generate further income and greater commercial opportunities for all the companies and businesses involved.

The great success of the Convention this week was also highlighted
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Vizer, along with SportAccord director general Vlad Marinescu and SportAccord Convention managing director Nis Hatt, also outlined the success of the "transitional" 2014 event as it reaches its conclusion today.

The event was attracted 1,636 attendees representing 78 nationalities from around the world, of which 25 per cent were first time participants. 

As well as 40 official meetings of sporting bodies, "thousands and thousands of side meetings" arranged by participants during the week-long gathering took place, while strong media interest was reflected by 736 dedicated news stories appearing in 34 countries.

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