Italian and Swedish bid teams make their pitch for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games

Record ID: 1366085

  • Title: Italian and Swedish bid teams make their pitch for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games
  • Date: 28th November 2018
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 28, 2018) (REUTERS) MAYOR OF MILAN, GUISEPPE SALA, SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAYOR OF MILAN, GUISEPPE SALA, SAYING: "We are interpreting the new rules to put together a big city like Milan and then the mountains, avoiding to throw away money and making a very sustainable offer. So, for me, we have innovation and in the meantime the empa
  • Embargoed: 12th December 2018 12:00
  • Keywords: Olympics Winter Bid. Milan Cortina
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN AND VARIOUS
  • City: TOKYO, JAPAN AND VARIOUS
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Olympics,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA00298F7IGV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The International Olympic Committee's 'new norms' program, aimed at making bidding and staging the Games cheaper and easier, dominated presentations made on Wednesday (November 28) by the two bids remaining to host the 2026 Winter Games.
    The IOC is facing its most serious bidding crisis in decades as cities drop out of the 2026 Winter Games bid race en masse, leaving a field of just two candidates.
    The two remaining candidates, Stockholm and a two-city bid from Italy, made presentations during the first day of the Association of National Olympic Committee's General Assembly in Tokyo.
    Both presentations made a concerted effort to stress elements of their bid that fit into the 'new norms' model.
    The Italian bid of Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo said that 93 percent of their venues would be temporary or already existing.
    Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto region, was also keen to stress there would be no "white elephants", whilst the Italian bid claimed that 83 percent of Milan's citizens favoured the bid.
    Italian Olympic Committee President Giovanni Malago said that giving a winter Olympics to countries such as Sweden or Italy, with a rich history of winter sports and pre-existing venues, was the future of Olympic bidding under the 'new norms'.
    Stockholm's bid also played on themes of sustainability, which Olympic Committee president Mats Arjes keen to stress that being sensible and reliable were national traits in Sweden, making the country the ideal hosts for a cost-reduced Olympics.
    Both teams were positive in Tokyo, but many challenges still await.
    The Italian bid, which at one point included Torino before the city pulled out after a disagreement with the other two, is far from guaranteed the necessary political support amid the country's financial woes.
    Stockholm is facing opposition from a new city government which said last month it will be against any bid that includes taxpayer funding.
    The whole situation leaves the IOC, which will elect the winner in 2019, in a difficult position.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Olympic restriction: Clip cannot be re-published without additional clearances from the IOC.
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