(ATR) The Calgary 2026 Olympic bid could be over as soon as today.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi brought things to a head late on Friday, putting a Monday deadline on reaching an Olympic funding deal between the three levels of government. The Calgary Herald reported Nenshi, in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said that if a deal was not brokered by then, he would have the Calgary city council end the process for hosting the Games.
Nenshi’s letter followed the news on Friday that the federal government had decided to fund up to $1.75 billion if the bid is successful, but only if the province and city match the total.
In his letter to Trudeau, Nenshi included an Oct. 11 email from Alberta’s chief negotiator to federal officials that stated there was a tentative agreement in place where the federal government would put up $1.75 billion and any IOC guarantees with the city of Calgary adding $370 million and the province of Alberta $700 million.
Those numbers still would fall $180 million short of the required $3 billion public contribution needed for the Games.
Senior officials of all three governments met on Saturday and Sunday but failed to reach an accommodation, according to the Calgary Herald.
The funding agreement was supposed to have been figured out weeks ago, well ahead of the Nov. 13 plebiscite on hosting the Games. Even if a deal is brokered in the next few days, there isn’t much time for voters to digest and understand what it could mean for a potential Olympic bid. Advance voting is set for Nov. 6 to 7.
Last week, Calgary 2026 bid CEO Mary Moran admitted that the lack of definitive numbers is making it more difficult to promote the bid to Calgarians.
The Calgary city council is not meeting today, so it would seem that any possible vote to officially end the bid process couldn’t happen immediately. The city’s 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Assessment Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday.
Like Calgary, the other two remaining 2026 bidders, Stockholm and Milan/Cortina d'Ampezzo, have also yet to secure government support.
Note: All monetary figures are in Canadian dollars.
Written by Gerard Farek
For general comments or questions,click here.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Últimas Noticias
Utah’s Olympic venues an integral part of the equation as Salt Lake City seeks a Winter Games encore
Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation chief of sport development Luke Bodensteiner says there is a “real urgency to make this happen in 2030”. He discusses the mission of the non-profit organization, the legacy from the 2002 Winter Games and future ambitions.
IOC president tells Olympic Movement “we will again have safe and secure Olympic Games” in Beijing
Thomas Bach, in an open letter on Friday, also thanked stakeholders for their “unprecedented” efforts to make Tokyo 2020 a success despite the pandemic.
Boxing’s place in the Olympics remains in peril as IOC still unhappy with the state of AIBA’s reform efforts
The IOC says issues concerning governance, finance, and refereeing and judging must be sorted out to its satisfaction. AIBA says it’s confident that will happen and the federation will be reinstated.
IOC president details Olympic community efforts to get Afghans out of danger after Taliban return to power
Thomas Bach says the Afghanistan NOC remains under IOC recognition, noting that the current leadership was democratically elected in 2019. But he says the IOC will be monitoring what happens in the future. The story had been revealed on August 31 in an article by Miguel Hernandez in Around the Rings
North Korea suspended by IOC for failing to participate in Tokyo though its athletes could still take part in Beijing 2022
Playbooks for Beijing 2022 will ”most likely” be released in October, according to IOC President Thomas Bach.
