(ATR) Swiss Olympic says moving up the date to determine who will represent Switzerland for a 2026 Olympic bid will mean a better chance for success.
Swiss Olympic tells Around the Rings "more time was needed in order to organize the federal procedure that will enable us to secure the support of all levels of the Swiss government.
"This procedure will be launched right after the decision of the Swiss Sports Parliament (Swiss Olympic’s General Assembly) to select a bid for 2026, which is why this date had to be moved to Spring 2017."
The decision on which of the four current bids will be chosen to represent Switzerland has been moved up to March from the original date in September of 2017.
Swiss Olympic also tells ATR that reports claiming none of the bidding regions would be allowed to hold a public referendum on an Olympic bid before Swiss Olympic makes its decision are incorrect.
"We don’t have the authority to do that and the regions are free to hold one," a spokesman said. "It was only agreed that it is difficult to organize a proper public referendum without knowing the exact conditions of the federal support yet."
Building up strong government support could be key in a favorable outcome in a public referendum. A bid by St. Moritz and Davos for the 2022 Games was rejected by voters in 2013.
The four regional bids being considered are: "2026 – Games for our Future" (multi-regional), "Olympische Winterspiele 2026 Graubünden und Partner" (Eastern Switzerland), "Switzerland 2026" (multi-regions) and "2026 The Swiss Made Winter Games" (Western Switzerland).
The four candidate projects engaged in a third workshop organized by Swiss Olympic last week in Bern, concluding the consultation phase of the process.
They now have the option to conduct one last working meeting before submitting their final project descriptions to Swiss Olympic’s 2026 Task Force on December 15.
Switzerland has twice hosted the Winter Olympics, both times in St. Moritz in 1928 and 1948.
The 2026 Winter Olympic host city will be selected at the 132nd IOC Session in 2019.
Written by Gerard Farek
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