The Parliament of Sport, the highest authority in Swiss sport composed of the 86 federations members of Swiss Olympic, today unanimously ratified the decisions taken by the Executive Council of Swiss Olympic on 7th March 2017, thus making official the Sion 2026 candidature for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2026.
This vote confirms the choice of the «Sion 2026. The Games in the heart of Switzerland» project as the Swiss candidate for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2026. At the same time, the Parliament of Sport confirms the intention of Swiss Olympic to contribute 8 million Swiss francs, which represents one third of the established bid budget.
This strong support was formalised after a very strong presentation from the Sion 2026 committee. National sport stars from all horizons were present at the House of Sport in Ittigen, to clearly show their enthusiasm to host the world’s biggest winter sports event in Switzerland. By their presence, Swiss athletes such as Fanny Smith, Didier Défago, Mélanie und Loïc Meillard oder Virginie Faivre sent a strong signal which will be relayed throughout the country in the upcoming months, as the work to develop and explain the project will be carried out.
Jürg Stahl, President of Swiss Olympic, said: «This clear message from Swiss sport is very important to us. It shows that the foundations of the Sion 2026 project are solid. It is also important to us as we are entering the next stage of the project, which is to gather federal support. We are extremely grateful to be able to count on the support of these athletes: it is also with them that we will be able to explain to our population why we believe that the Games in Switzerland is a great idea.»
This vote ends Swiss Olympic’s national selection process, started more than one year ago with the involvement of five different projects. The process contained, through the organisation of different collaborative projects, workshops and presentations from specialists and former hosts of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, to perfect the various projects and select a final one that met the identified criteria.
«The process put in place by Swiss Olympic enabled us to work under strict but constructive conditions, allowing us to be creative», said Jean-Philippe Rochat, President of Sion 2026. «We are very thankful for the trust that the Swiss sports world has shown to us today. We are fully aware of our responsibilities: sport is, and will remain, at the heart of our project.»
The Sion 2026 project can now enter a new phase. There will be first a detailed planning in order to submit the project to the Swiss Government in autumn 2017 and consolidate the budget. Collaboration with a federal working group has already started. In parallel, the preparation of the international campaign can now also start. The date to officially declare the bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is yet to be confirmed, but it is planned to occur at the beginning of next year.
For more information, please contact:
Alexander Wäfler
Head of Media and Information
Tel: +41 76 436 38 40
Email: alexander.waefler@swissolympic.ch
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