An important parcel of land at the foot of a Kandahar ski resort slope will no longer be a threat to Munich’s bid for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. A legal firm for Munich 2018 and the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen announced Tuesday that it has made an agreement with the landowner allowing the land to be used should the Games be awarded to Germany.
The timing of the announcement is just as critical as the deal for Munich 2018 as the bid team heads to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne for the most important presentation opportunity of the campaign on Wednesday.
The dispute of this small parcel of land inconveniently located at an integral place of one of the Olympic Games marquee venues has plagued the Munich 2018 bid for several months. It was one of the main concerns reported by the media when IOC evaluators visited the Munich area in March.
Mayor Thomas Schmid expressed his delight for his team and the results of the negotiations in a press release.
Reacting to the news in Lausanne, Chair of the Munich 2018 Bid Committee Katarina Witt said “I am happy that the final section of the field of play land has been secured, adding the last piece to the puzzle.
“Now we are 100% ready for a Winter Games in 2018 and also for our technical presentation to the IOC here in Lausanne tomorrow.”
“We are very pleased that the land ownership discussions have taken this big step forward,” said bid CEO Bernhard Schwank.
“Talks have been progressing quickly and constructively for some time now, and we were always confident that we would be able to find the best solution for all parties. This is further evidence that the people of Garmisch-Partenkirchen are firmly behind our bid.”
Last week a referendum in Garmisch-Partenkirchen showed that residents supported the bid by a small margin.
