Sweden’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2030 has been cleared to move forward by the government making the project eligible for the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) next stage in the election process.
“The government is ready to proceed to the next phase and test the closer conditions for providing the state guarantees needed to carry out the 2030 Winter Games in Sweden,” a statement released by the Swedish government explained Sunday.
Earlier Swedish officials announced that possible host communities Åre, Östersund and Falun signed municipal guarantees and the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) are in “very good dialogue with Stockholm, Södertälje and Solna” according to SOK chair Hans von Uthmann.
The timely announcement comes just days before bid officials from Sweden, as well as those from 2030 rivals France and Switzerland, are to make a critical presentation to the IOC’s Future Host Commission. From those meetings on November 21, the Commission will make recommendations to the IOC’s Executive Board during its meeting from November 28 to December 1 in Paris.
The Executive Board could name any number of candidates for the so-called targeted dialogue stage where candidates will need to provide further plans and documents before being eligible for the final election ballot that has been tentatively scheduled to take place in July just ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The IOC has proposed a deadline of the end of February for the submission of full bid dossiers and the end of March for guarantees.
Sweden will be required to sign government guarantees in order to appear on the final ballot.
“The government notes the great interest shown by Swedish companies for Winter Games in Sweden. A prerequisite for support from the government for a Swedish Olympic application is that the business community contributes the sponsorship income that has been calculated in the budget for the Games,” the Swedish government statement read.
“It is crucial that these [Games] are cost-effective and that they are arranged in existing sports arenas around Sweden and in the vicinity of our country.”
To avoid building a costly venue, plans are in place to stage bobsleigh, luge and skeleton at an existing sliding venue in Sigulda, Latvia.
In April a survey revealed that as many as 70 percent across Sweden support bidding for the next Winter Olympics, a marked increase from backing that measured in the 50’s during the previous 2026 bid.
Sweden last bid for the 2026 edition with Stockholm Åre going down in defeat to Italy’s Milan-Cortina by a vote of 47 to 34. Both had outlasted five other cites – four that withdrew and one that was disqualified by the IOC evaluation. Following the contentious vote in June 2019, IOC President Thomas Bach blamed Sweden’s poor public support for the loss.
Sweden is the most successful Winter Olympics nation never to host the Winter Games despite eight previous bids. Stockholm hosted the Summer Games in 1912.
