(ATR) A second potential 2026 Winter Olympics bid in Austria is dead.
The Austrian Olympic Committee (ÖOC) announced "with a heavy heart" on Friday that it "has abandoned the idea of a Graz 2026 Olympic candidature".
The ÖOC blamed "the political arguments currently taking place" for the decision, adding that "there has to date been no clear political backing, nor any corresponding support from the Styrian state government – something which the ÖOC regarded as essential, right from the start. Under these circumstances, a project of this scale is not viable, and certainly not internationally justifiable."
An IOC spokesman said in a statement to Around the Rings "The IOC fully understands the decision taken by the Austrian National Olympic Committee and respects their view that they do not wish to become part of a local political dispute since the Olympic Games should always be a unifying force."
A feasibility study released last week called the bid "absolutely feasible", putting the budget to organize the Winter Games at €1.137 billion ($1.317 billion) with no public money required. However, a public subsidy of €53 million ($61.4 million) would be used in a worst case scenario to cover cost overruns that exhaust a reserve of €100 million ($115.8 million).
The Austrian Communist Party (KPÖ) then announced that it had collected enough signatures to trigger a referendum on the 2026 Olympic project in Graz.
Austrian media reported on Monday that Austrian Sports Minister Heinz Christian Strache, Styria Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer and the Mayor of Graz Siegfried Nagl had agreed to hold a referendum on a 2026 bid in late August or early September in the state of Styria.
By the end of the week, the bid was ended, a decision that did not sit well with Nagl. He was quoted by Kronen Zeitung as saying "As a winter sports country, we would have had a never-to-be-repeated chance - in this dimension - of bringing the world's biggest winter sports event to Graz and the communities that were ready to look ahead. The feasibility study of the most renowned scientific institutions has given a clear statement. Olympic Winter Games, according to the IOC's Agenda 2020, are not a financial risk. Contrary to better knowledge, this study has been doubted for political reasons and has not even been read by some."
The KPÖ called the end of the Graz bid "a win for democracy" on its website. Graz KPÖ city councilor Elke Kahr said "That's a big positive surprise. That exceeds all my expectations."
The Greens party was another opponent of the bid. In a statement to Kronen Zeitung, the chairman of the Greens in the Styria parliament Lambert Schönleitner said "the construction of the expensive house of cards was stopped".
He added "It is also good to mention that Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer and Provincial Councilor Christopher Drexler (both Austrian People’s Party) have kept their line here and have not supported" the bid.
Requests for additional comment from Nagl, Schützenhöfer andKahr about any political disagreements were not immediately returned.
ÖOC President Karl Stoss and Secretary General Peter Mennel, in a joint statement, said "We regret that we aren’t able to give our top athletes and winter sports fans this unique chance of having Olympic Games at home in the near future."
The Austrian Olympic Committee says it hopes that the feasibility study and the organizational work already undertaken could form the basis for future candidature negotiations.
Graz was Austria’s second attempt to bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. A bid from Innsbruck was torpedoed in a referendum last October. The 2026 bid cycle has also featured bids from Graubünden and Sion in Switzerland being ended by voters in referendums.
Calgary will hold a plebiscite later this year, most likely in November.
An Italian bid from among candidate cities Milan, Turin and Cortina d’Ampezzo is expected to be decided by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) on July 10.
Sapporo is still in talks with stakeholders on whether the city will bid for 2026 or wait until 2030.
The question of government support for Stockholm’s bid for 2026 will likely be determined by the results of Sweden’s national elections in September. A referendum appears to not be a concern since it is very rarely used in Sweden.
Erzurum, Turkey has always been considered the outsider in the 2026 race but with clear government support and no referendum needed it could also be the only candidate still standing in the coming months.
Written by Gerard Farek
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