Sion 2026 Ready to Run the Gauntlet

(ATR) Sion 2026 President Jean-Philippe Rochat tells Around the Rings "we’re rather optimistic" that the Swiss federal government will back the bid to host the country’s first Olympics since 1948.

The Swiss Federal Council, the equivalent of the executive board of the Swiss federal government, is to decide on the future of Sion 2026 by mid-October.

If the Federal Council votes against the bid, Sion’s dreams of hosting are dead.

"There is no way of organizing the Games without the support" of the federal government, Rochat says.

If the Council approves the plan, the hard work will really begin.

The exhaustive Swiss process to approve the hosting of an Olympics would take until the end of 2018 to complete but Rochat says "we would probably have the strongest bid having gone through all those steps."

The approval from the Federal Council is only the first step. Early next year, a three month public consultation period will begin, with major economic and environmental organizations among those adding their thoughts on a possible bid. At the end of the three month period, Rochat says "a new message to the Federal Council will be prepared and the Council will make a final decision" by May of 2018.

The Federal Council will then prepare a report to the Swiss Parliament, with a first discussion on the matter scheduled to take place in September and a second one before the end of 2018. A final decision would then be reached.

But that’s only the federal part of the equation. The cantons involved in the potential hosting of the 2026 Winter Games could each hold a local referendum on the issue.

"We plan to vote in the canton of Valais, which is the main one where most of the investments are done," Rochat tells ATR. "Based on what the confederation (federal government) will probably invest in the bid we believe the risk of possible referendum in other cantons is very, very limited. The voting would take place also next September or the autumn."

"Our goal is to be at the end of 2018 having gone through all the referendum on the cantonal level and all the decisions to be made at the federal level."

Rochat has nothing but praise for the IOC, which he says was instrumental in helping the bid develop what is considered a "plausible and credible" budget, adding "Without this support we wouldn’t be ready today."

The Sion 2026 bid team will be keeping a close eye on the results of next month’s Olympic referendum in Innsbruck and the Tirol region.

Rochat says "the population in Tirol has the same arguments in favor or against the Games in the Alps" as the people who will be deciding if Switzerland will bid. He says the result of the Austrian referendum will be a strong sign for the Swiss bid.

Written by Gerard Farek

For general comments or questions,click here.

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.