(ATR) Both the Italian and Swedish bids to host the 2026 Olympics and Paralympics receive support on the eve of the deadline to present the IOC with their candidature files.
The joint Italian bid of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo was approved by the Italian federal government on Thursday, according to ANSA.
The decision means that the Italian bid has the support of all levels of Italian government.
In November, the IOC gave its approval for the Milan-Cortina bid to move forward without financial support from the Italian federal government, saying the current financial support from the regional governments involved in the bid was enough. A week later the Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the federal government would "make the final push" to pay any remaining costs not already covered by other means.
Also on Thursday, the governors of the Swedish counties of Dalarna, Stockholm and Jämtland released a statement in "strong support" of the Stockholm 2026 bid.
"Being Governors for the three Swedish Counties that will be involved in hosting the Games, we are very proud of the bid and approach given by the Swedish Olympic Committee and the Swedish Paralympic Committee," the statement said.
Around the Rings is told that talks are still ongoing in an effort to garner the support of the Stockholm city government.
The Swedish elections in September produced a new center-right coalition city government that came out against an Olympic bid. The previous Stockholm government had supported it.
Both the bids tell ATR they will turn in the candidature files to the IOC on Friday, which is the deadline. The two finalists for the 2026 Games will submit their overall plan. Formerly known as bid books, the cities are now required to file only digital documents instead of the expensive and weighty printed versions. The change, a result of Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms, probably saves hundreds of thousands of dollars for the candidate cities.
The files submitted this week will be reviewed by IOC staff in preparation for the visit to each city in March or April by the Evaluation Commission. It is headed by IOC member in Romania Octavian Morariu. The IOC session to decide the host city is June 24 in Lausanne.
Written by Gerard Farek
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