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Below President Bach with Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba GroupIOC AND ALIBABA ANNOUNCE HISTORIC NEW PARTNERSHIP THROUGH 2028The IOC and Alibaba Group have announced a long-term partnership through 2028. Joining The Olympic Partner (TOP) worldwide sponsorship programme, Alibaba will become the official “Cloud Services” and “E-Commerce Platform Services” Partner, as well as a Founding Partner of the Olympic Channel. The partnership was announced in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.IOC President Thomas Bach said: “In this new digital world, Alibaba is uniquely positioned to help the IOC achieve a variety of key objectives outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020, while positively shaping the future of the Olympic Movement. This is a ground-breaking, innovative alliance, and will help drive efficiencies in the organisation of the Olympic Games through 2028, whilst also supporting the global development of digital opportunities including the Olympic Channel.”“Alibaba’s partnership with the IOC is built on a foundation of shared values and a common vision for connecting the world and enriching people’s lives,” said Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group. “We are proud to support Olympic Agenda 2020, using our innovations and technologies to help evolve the Olympic Games for the digital era.”Alibaba is the first company to make a long-term commitment to the IOC through 2028 and the first Chinese company to commit to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. It will support the organisers of each edition of the Games, with its global activation rights including the forthcoming Games in PyeongChang, Tokyo and Beijing, and Games in 2024, 2026 and 2028.CANDIDATE CITIES ENTER FINAL STAGE OF 2024 PROCESSOn 3 February, the Candidate Cities for the 2024 Olympic Games entered the final stretch of the Candidature Process by submitting their Candidature File Stage 3 – “Games delivery, experience and venue legacy”. “This is one of the most important milestones for the Candidate Cities and for the IOC. With the delivery of this third file, we can now consider each project in its entirety,” said Frank Fredericks, the IOC Evaluation Commission Chair. “Since the launch of the Candidature Process, we have been in constant dialogue with the cities and have seen first-hand their projects taking shape. The excitement is continuing to build as we reach the final stretch of the competition.”The Candidature Process comprises three stages over two years leading up to the election of the host city for the 2024 Olympic Games on 13 September in Lima (Peru).OLYMPIC REVIEW 13