The Winter Olympics will not take place in Switzerland in 2030, decided the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this week, reported SRF.
The IOC said it is refusing to allow the Swiss project to enter the next application phase, known as targeted dialogue. This means France will almost certainly be awarded the games for 2030, with Salt Lake City likely to host the 2034 Winter Games.
The Swiss proposal, which was spread across 10 locations, was too geographically dispersed. The IOC felt this would not create true Olympic spirit among participants.
Hosting large sporting events such as the Olympics has become controversial. Many of these projects end up making larges losses. An analysis of Olympic Games and World Cups between 1964 and 2018 found they delivered a combined loss of US$ 50 billion. The average return-on-investment for these events was - 38%. The study found that the events were very profitable for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), who own the rights, occasionally profitable for the organising committees that put them on, and hardly ever for host cities and and governments (taxpayers).
In 2018, 53.98% of voters in the canton of Valais rejected bidding for the winter Olympics in 2026.
However, the door remains open to Switzerland. The IOC said it will allow a future Swiss bid and the possibility of privileged dialogue for the 2038 games.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
