Sarkozy Gets Behind New Annecy 2018 Bid Chief

(ATR) Annecy 2018 bid officials tell Around the Rings that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and sports minister Chantal Jouanno have today approved Charles Beigbeder as the new leader of the troubled bid, paving the way for the French businessman to be officially appointed CEO on Monday.

The 46-year-old was nominated by chairman of the Annecy 2018 supervisory board, Christian Monteil, to replace Edgar Grospiron who resigned as bid chief in December over budgetary concerns.

Monteil was quoted by Agence French Presse on Friday saying Beigbeder is "a man for a challenge, a natural leader, a unifier who can bring into line the sporting world, the institutional players and the bid team".

Beigbeder told AFP: "This is a project that has exceptional skills and so I am very pleased and honored to be nominated by the Minister of Sports and President of the General Council of Haute-Savoie in consultation with other stakeholders to chair the grouping public interest. "

But his appointment will not be confirmed until a vote of the public interest group (GIP) that has been created around the bid. The GIP will on Monday introduce new legal statutes to boost the bid's campaign in the build-up to the IOC Session vote on the 2018 host in Durban on July 6.

"We will decide on a plan to give massive Annecy 2018 all the assets it needs to win in Durban in July," Beigbeder said.

French media reported that Beigbeder's nomination came just a few hours after René Carron, Crédit Agricole's former boss, rejected the opportunity to lead the bid. Last week, former environment minister Jean-Louis Borloo also turned down an offer to be the new bid CEO.

Around the Rings understands IOC members Guy Drut and Jean-Claude Killy were both approached to take on the job in the past week but they snubbed sports minister Jouanno. However, both men are expected to play more prominent bid roles in the next seven months in support of Beigbeder.

Beigbeder, who was born in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, has a background in engineering, "green" business projects and investment banking. He is currently president of Poweo, France's first private energy provider.

Annecy 2018 officials had planned to send a delegation to deliver its bid book to the IOC on Monday ahead of the Jan. 11 deadline.

But with the GIP general assembly set to rubberstamp Beigbeder's appointment on Monday afternoon, bid officials are making alternative arrangements that are likely to see Beigbeder travel to Lausanne on Tuesday.

Bid rivals Munich and PyeongChang are set to deliver their bid dossiers to the IOC on Tuesday.

Written by Mark Bisson.