Swiss Olympic Executive Council Advances Sion Bid

(ATR) The decision to bid for the 2026 Olympic Games rests with the Swiss "parliament of sport."

Swiss Olympic’s executive council today approved funding for the Sion 2026 Winter Olympic bid, in an ongoing effort to make the bid official. As part of the vote in support of the bid, Swiss Olympic pledged $7.9 million for the bid, which equates to one third of the budget.

A spokesperson for Swiss Olympic told Around the Rings that the executive council vote was an important step, but votes from the "parliament of sport" and the people still loom.

"We’re not really worried [about a referendum]; we want the people to be involved and we wouldn’t want to organize an Olympic Games without asking if the people agree," the spokesperson said. "We assume there will be a referendum in Valais but it’s not sure."

The Swiss Confederation government is matching the $7.9 million contribution from Swiss Olympic, while the final $7.9 million comes from the four cantons associated with the bid and private investment. Valais is contributing $3.95 million, and the city of Sion will contribute $990,000. The Cantons of Bern and Vaud are contributing $990,000, and the Canton of Fribourg will contribute $490,000.

Sion was the last bid still standing to be the official Swiss bid for the 2026 Games. A competing bid from the Canton of Graubündenwas defeated for the second straight bidding cycle by a public referendum in February.

The "parliament of sport" is the Swiss Olympic general assembly, which will vote to confirm the bid on April 11. Once the bid is confirmed, Swiss Olympic will begin working with the Sion bid to compile official documents needed by the IOC. The IOC says the candidature process for the 2026 Olympics will not begin until after the PyeongChang 2018 Games.

Calgary, Innsbruck, Sapporo, Stockholm, and a potential Norwegian bid are expected to make decisions on whether to bid for the 2026 Games in the coming months.

A host for the 2026 Games will be decided at the 2019 IOC Session.

Written by Aaron Bauer

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