Olympia: IOC reacts to Olympic disaster in Innsbruck

The IOC has reacted to the recent public procurement disaster for the 2026 Winter Games.Only two days after the negative referendum in Tyrol on Innsbruck’s candidacy for the games in nine years, the IOC published a plan for a considerably simplified application procedure on Tuesday, thus accommodating potential applicants.

The IOC wants to offer “sustainable, viable and cheaper Olympic Games” and to adapt them to the “long-term local, regional and national development goals”.

Interested cities and National Olympic Committees are to evaluate the advantages and requirements of the Olympic Games’ orientation in a “one-year, non-binding dialogue phase together with the IOC by October 2018”.In addition, the IOC wants to approach cities “proactively” and bear the costs of consulting.The number of questions to candidates in the candidacy phase will be reduced by a third.

The decision on the host of the next winter games after Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022 is to be made in September 2019.There is no application yet.On Sunday, 53.35 percent of the inhabitants of the Austrian province of Tyrol voted against an application for an Olympic Games.

In Switzerland, the Federal Council will make a final decision on an application for Sion 2026 in the near future.Calgary/Canada, Salt Lake City in the USA and Lillehammer/Norway, all of which have already hosted winter games, are also interested.