(ATR) A joint bid by the Austrian cities of Graz and Schladming for the 2026 Winter Games has more support than opposition, according to a new poll.
The poll, published by Kronen Zeitung, asked the opinions of people over the age of 16 who live in Styria, the home state for the bid.
Forty-six percent of those who responded supported a bid, though only 12.7 percent were "absolutely" behind it. The other 33.3 percent in favor would approve it only if the costs for the bid "remain within limits".
Almost of a third of those polled, 33.1 percent, oppose a bid with another 20.9 percent undecided.
The results were released as the the Austrian Communist Party (KPÖ) works to gather enough signatures on a petition that would force a referendum on the bid. The KPÖ says on its website that it has 4,000 signatures so far. The effort kicked off earlier this month.
A failed referendum last October ended Innsbruck’s effort to host a third Winter Games in 2026.
Like the Innsbruck bid, the Graz-Schladming project wants to make use of existing venues throughout Austria and southern Germany.
The Austrian Olympic Committee (OOC) tells Around the Rings that it is waiting for the official application to be filed with the IOC before starting to "evaluate and define the basic conditions for an official bidding".
Organizers for the Graz-Schladming bid are expected to submit their official interest to the IOC ahead of the March 31 deadline to do so. The Austrian bid would then have until October to convince the IOC that it deserves to move on to the next phase of the process.
Four bid cities - Calgary, Sapporo, Sion and Stockholm - sent observer teams to the PyeongChang Olympics last month. Since then, Turin's city government has said it is interested in bidding for 2026 as well.
Written by Gerard Farek
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