(ATR) Tromsø's plan to bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics may be scrapped due to the high projected costs of staging the Games, according to Norwegian media.
An official report for the state prepared by three accounting firms says that a Winter Olympics in the Arctic city would be twice as expensive as previously thought. Cabinet ministers and sports officials accepted the Olympic cost report Tuesday, knowing that it probably kill off what little public and political support there has been for the project.
Original estimates put the cost of staging the Winter Games at around $1.6 billion. But the report reveals a price tag of $3.3 billion, which would reportedly require a state guarantee of $4.9 billion.
Tromsø 2018’s failure to include costs for security and an Olympic Village are two of the reasons for the gap in funding estimates.
Boosters had claimed the village would be financed by the private sector but IOC rules say that the costs of housing athletes and officials must be included in a state guarantee for financing the Games.
The new projection will make it difficult for politicians to justify such an investment in a Winter Games amid demands for better funding of public services such as the education system and health care, say Norwegian media.
The Progress Party, Norway's most conservative, is now being joined by politicians from other parties in its opposition to an Olympics in Tromsø.
The group of skeptics is said to include politicians from the Socialist Left and Labour parties, who together with the Center Party form Norway's government coalition. Only the Center Party has formally supported an Olympics in Tromsø.
Last week, the French NOC confirmed that France will bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Other bids are expected from Munich, Germany; Geneva, Switzerland, and PyeongChang, South Korea. Bulgaria could also launch a bid.
Even if Tromsø's 2018 bid plans flounder, Norway may yet stage the first winter Youth Olympic Games. Lillehammer is one of four candidate cities in the race to host to the 2012 YOG. The IOC will announce the host city in December.
With reporting from Mark Bisson.
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