Bidding for the Games - Munich; PyeongChang Government Support

Munich Pledges for Venue Construction

The Bavarian minister of state tells a state parliament committee that the federal government is expected to cover half the 175 million euro cost to construct and modernize venues called for in the Munich 2018 Olympic bid.

“We had intensive negotiations. The support will run by the federal government like the Summer Games in 1972", Siegfried Schneider said at a meeting of the parliamentary sports committee.

He says federal support normally covers only 30 percent of the costs, with the rest coming from local governments.

The committee hearing also included comments from a Green party leader pushing biathlon to be located at Ruhpolding and Nordic events at Oberstdorf. Bid leaders have rejected those locations in favor of consolidating venues.

In the 2018 bid, ice events would be held in Munich, but snow events would be held 90 minutes away in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, site of the 1936 Winter Olympics.

In other news from Munich, leaders of the bid team took part in celebrations in Moscow Friday for the first International Paralympic Day for Winter Sport.

Along with Munich, PyeongChang, South Korea and Annecy, France are bidding for the 2018 Olympics.

South Korean Government Support for PyeongChang

The South Korean government holds a first meeting of a working group of ministries involved in the 2018 bid.

The meeting today in Seoul was led by Dae-Gi Kim, vice minister Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Jai Ryong Jang, secretary general of the PyeongChang bid reported to the committee on activities of his group, which last week included attendance at the bid city seminar organized by the IOC in Lausanne.

The government working group is comprised of 14 ministries including the Prime Minister; Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs; Education, Science and Technology; Foreign Affairs and Trade; Knowledge Economy as well as representatives from Gangwon Province and the Korean Olympic Committee.

“Hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018 is a national agenda which will contribute to enhance Korea’s brand value. Therefore, all the government agencies should build up a closer cooperation systems and the government will stage an all-out campaign to support PyeongChang 2018,” says vice minister Kim in a release.

The working group is the first national level meeting since South Korea President Myung Bak Lee toured venues for PyeongChang last month.

Written by Ed Hula.