Olympics officials have "taken the rare step of publicly criticising Norway's decision to pull its bid to host the 2022 Winter Games, a decision that leaves only two cities left in the race," according to Blitz & Crouch of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The government of Norway withdrew the Oslo bid "for financial reasons, the latest country to conclude that the benefits of hosting a major sporting event are outweighed by the cost." The decision leaves Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan as the "remaining 2022 contenders." IOC Exec Dir Christophe Dubi said it was a "missed opportunity," because Norway was "turning its back" on $800M of IOC investment "plus sponsorship rights that go to the winning host city." Norwegian newspaper VG commentator Frithjob Jacobsen "hit back comparing the IOC to capricious rock stars," saying, "Norway has said no to the inflated, ridiculous, otherworldly, expensive, unsympathetic meeting that the IOC has become, to the greed and zealous pursuit of costly sacrifices to get their egos to fizz. The Olympics are still a beautiful event, but those who own it have rotted to their roots" (FT, 10/2). BLOOMBERG's Danielle Rossingh reported Norwegian politicians were "put off by the increased cost of
hosting the games." Norwegian Finance Minister Siv Jensen said, "First and foremost, this sends a very powerful message to
the International Olympic Committee that it needs more modesty
and be closer to the people in future Olympic events. This means that we get more money for transportation, health
and recreational sports" (BLOOMBERG, 10/2).
ONLY TWO REMAIN: In London, Tony Bonnici wrote Stockholm; Krakow, Poland and Lviv, Ukraine all "withdrew their bids in
recent months." Before that, "potentially strong bids from St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Munich,
Germany, were dropped after being rejected by voters in referendums." Dubi said that the Norwegian bid team had "asked for a meeting with the IOC earlier
this year for an explanation of all the requirements and costs." Dubi: "Unfortunately Oslo sent neither a senior member of the bid team nor a
government official to this meeting. For this reason senior
politicians in Norway appear not to have been properly briefed on the
process and were left to take their decisions on the basis of half-truths
and factual inaccuracies." Norway PM Erna Solberg said that there was "not enough support" to spend 35B kroner ($5.4B) on the Winter Olympics. Solberg: "It's important to get broad support for such an expensive project and there
is not enough to carry through such an expensive project. Without enthusiasm, it's not natural to carry
this through" (LONDON TIMES, 10/2).
CHANGES NEEDED: REUTERS' Karolos Grohmann reported IOC President Thomas Bach underlined that "changes are needed to make the Games more attractive to bidders." Bach said that Norway's decision to pull out was mainly "a political one" given the country's current minority coalition government. He "shrugged off suggestions the IOC had been bruised by the repeated snubs, but accepted Games costs had been a factor." Bach: "We haven't even got a black eye. We should not forget we have two candidates (Beijing and Almaty) who are offering two very interesting approaches." Neither of the two, however, possess the "sparkling winter sports pedigree of Norway whose athletes have won more Winter Games medals than any other nation." Nor do they have a "large local winter sports fan base, crucial for the success of the Winter Olympics" (REUTERS, 10/2). In N.Y., Lynn Zinser wrote Solberg's Conservative Party was "joined by the Progress Party in asking
to stop the bid process, ensuring that Parliament would not approve the
necessary government backing to win the bid." The IOC, which will
choose the 2022 host city in '15, "requires guaranteed financing before
awarding the Games" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/1).
'STICKING TO COMMITMENTS': The AP's Stephen Wilson reported Bach said that the IOC "will not reopen the bidding process for the 2022 Winter Games after Oslo's withdrawal left just two cities in the race." Bach said that the IOC is "sticking to its commitments" and "we cannot and we do not want to change the regulations in the middle of the race" (AP, 10/2).
