Thirty days before the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games is announced in Durban, South Africa, RMC Sport reports 2.5 million Euro are missing from the 29.1 Euro previously announced by the Annecy 2018 bid committee.
The budget for Annecy’s 2018 bid was postponed three times, and was finally passed May 30.
Gwendal Peizerat, Olympic figure skating champion and now managing director of Sports in the Rhone-Alpes, said they had decided to abstain from the vote since there were too many uncertainties on revenue. It will now be up to the municipality and the state to pay should Annecy host the 2018 Games.
Charles Beigbeder, who replaced Edgar Grospiron in January as head of Annecy’s bid, said his priority was to find new partners for the event. Six partners were announced, but two months later there has not been any additional funds.
Pierre Mirabaud, Director General of the French Project said, “we demand that the VAT is not charged on costs”.
A board member reportedly said that finance was one of the problems of Annecy’s bid.
The funds needed for the bid during the years 2009-2011 was not anticipated. A source close to the bid said, “the 2010 budget put us on an impasse”.
The IOC’s Evaluation Commission’s visit to inspect the bid in February had been estimated at 600,000 Euros which Mirabaud said was “unrealistic”. RMC Sport reports the visit actually cost the bid committee at least 2.5 million Euro. Mirabaud said it explains why they requested a boost from the state.
He said, “we will not spend a Euro more”.
