Switzerland’s Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games bid for 2030 or 2034 received unanimous approval by the nation’s sport federations, the Sport Parliament, clearing a path for the project to enter the next critical stage.
It will now be up the the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to decide whether the bid will be selected to the next targeted dialogue phase of the bid process that could position the bid for an election ballot next summer. The Swiss bid is competing among France and Sweden to host in 2030, and Salt Lake City in the United States for 2034.
The IOC Executive Board could name any number of bids for targeted dialogue at a meeting next Wednesday (November 29), and those left of the list could have to wait until 2038 for their next opportunity to stage the Games.
The Sport Parliament is made of the 37 Olympic federations in Switzerland, 46 non-Olympic sports and 27 partner organizations.
“I’m fully convinced of this project with its new sustainable concept. It is a great opportunity for Switzerland, and also for the Olympic movement,” Viola Amherd, Swiss Federal Councilor, head of the Department of Defense Civil Protection and Sport said according to a statement.
“The delegates of Switzerland’s sports federations have sent a strong message of support for a project that could provide a unique momentum for Swiss sport as a whole, as well as for our country,” Swiss Olympic President Jürg Stahl said.
Last month a poll commissioned by Swiss Olympic revealed two-thirds across the country support the nation’s latest try at hosting the bid. The project is being positioned as a national bid with existing venues being leveraged in several clusters.
Switzerland proposed Sion to host the 2026 edition of the Winter Games until 54 percent in a referendum voted against funding the bid itself, forcing the project to be abandoned. Three other bids dropped out of that same race leaving Milan-Cortina in Italy to defeat only Stockholm Åre.
If the IOC Future Host Commission recommends that the Swiss bid moves forward next week and the Executive Board agrees, further vetting of the project will take place and public support will be measured again.
The IOC hopes to hold an election among one or more candidates for both 2030 and 2034 at the Scheduled all-members Session scheduled in Paris next July. However if the French bid is on the ballot, the election will have to be held another time in order to avoid the conflict of interest identified in the Olympic Charter.
Switzerland has either abandoned or lost eight straight Winter and Summer Olympic Games bids since St. Moritz last hosted the Winter Games twice in 1948 and 1928. The IOC has it’s headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
