Heiberg Says Oslo Olympic Bid Still Alive After Political Snub

(ATR ) Despite a Norwegian government party voting against backing the Oslo bid, IOC member Gerhard Heiberg tells Around the Rings "the race is not over".

The Progress Party decided on Sunday not to support the city’s bid application at its annual meeting, citing costs as the main issue. A total of 115 members out of 219, including finance minister Siv Jensen, voted to reject the bid.

"It’s a blow," Heiberg told ATR Monday. "We knew they might be against. We have known that all the time but they made it clear yesterday

"The race is not over. We are still positive this can be handled."

He insisted the Conservative Party, Norway’s second biggest party which rules with the Progress Party in a minority government, and the Labour Party "are so far both in favour so it’s not the end of the bid".

Heiberg, an IOC member since 1994 and a key figure for the bid, said the Conservatives "are in the driver's seat" and had scheduled a debate about the Olympic bid later in May.

The Norwegian government will make a recommendation to the Norwegian parliament in June.

"It seems very likely they will continue with the bid," he said, adding that Conservative leaders were also set to launch talks with officials from the Labour Party, the biggest party in the Norwegian parliament. The two parties holdan absolute majority in parliament.

"It’s not the government making the final decision, it is the parliament," he was keen to point out. "In parliament we feel there is a majority for going ahead with the bid."

In the wake of the Progress Party’s snub, Heiberg revealed that Norway’s political leaders, bid officials and the Swedish NOC were holding meetings today about the bid.

"I wouldn’t say it was an emergency. But the surprise [Progress Party rejection] came earlier than we thought," he said.

Heiberg emphasized that dropping the bid would not be considered, saying discussions would center on the next steps in Oslo’s bid strategy and whether a change of tactics was needed.

"We are going to have meetings today and I am convinced we will continue. How do we handle it now? Do anything differently or business as usual?," he explained.

With Norway’s finance minister Siv Jensen now firmly in the ‘no’ camp, Oslo 2022 can expect to face challenges if it makes the candidate city shortlist. In January, the IOC requires government financial guarantees from all bids.

Frank Willy Djuvik of Progress Party, who voted against the bid, was quoted by the Norway Post saying his party would now put pressure on the Conservative Party to halt the Olympic bid. "It must have an enormous influence that the Progress Party and the minister of finance has voted against this," he said.

Oslo is vying for the 2022 Games with Almaty, Beijing, Krakow and Lviv.

The IOC Executive Board decides the candidate cities in July.

Written by Mark Bisson.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.