(ATR) The Stockholm-Are 2026 bid receives the official backing of Latvia’s prime minister as it awaits financial guarantees from the Swedish government.
Arturs Krisjanis Karins pledged his full support to the Swedish bid in a letter to the Latvian Olympic Committee General Assembly on March 29, according to a release Friday by Stockholm-Are 2026.
"It will be a unique opportunity to showcase our ability to organize sports competitions at the highest level and allow us to develop nationally important sports infrastructure. Let us all work together to win the right to host the Olympic Games in 2026 at home," Karins wrote.
Rather than building a very expensive sliding track in Sweden, Stockholm-Are 2026 opted to hold the sliding events on the other side of the Baltic Sea, in Sigulda, Latvia, some 571 kilometers (355 miles) away. It will entail a 70-minute flight from Stockholm to the Latvian capital of Riga, followed by a 70-minute drive. The decision is in line with the cost-cutting measures tied to the IOC's Agenda 2020.
"We have already done a lot, but we can definitely do even more so that in the 2026 Winter Olympics, in cooperation with Sweden, competitions in luge, skeleton and bobsleigh disciplines would take place in Sigulda," Karins added.
While the Latvian government is on board for 2026, Stockholm-Are is still waiting for the Swedish government to provide financial guarantees required by the IOC.
Stockholm 2026 leaders say that taxpayers will not be burdened with costs of hosting the Games, as everything other than national security will be privately financed. The projected budget for the Swedish bid is $1.5 billion. The IOC says it will provide the winning bid with $925 million.
During the IOC 2026 Evaluation Commission visit to Sweden last month, the Swedish Minister of Culture and Sport Amanda Lind told reporters on March 15 the government was still working towards a decision.
"It is still seven years from now and for the Swedish government to give its support, there must be a consensus in both sport and politics," Lind said.
"Questions regarding security issues, that’s what we are investigating now and evaluating the material.
"[IOC guarantees] are a part of the decision we have to make and we are right now processing to be able to make a decision within the next weeks."
Both Sweden and the rival bid from Italy missed an original January 11 deadline and were given an extension to April 12. But Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi has made it clear that under the new bidding process created as part of Agenda 2020, the only true deadline for finalizing government support would be June 24, the day the IOC votes on the 2026 bid city.
The official letter from Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte confirmingall government guarantees for the Milan-Cortina bid was delivered to the IOC 2026 Evaluation Commission chairman Octavian Morariu in Milan on Friday. The commission is in Italy this week on an inspection tour of the Italian bid.
Written by Gerard Farek
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