Switzerland to bid for 2030 or 2034 Winter Games

GENEVA : Switzerland on Friday announced it would bid for either the 2030 or 2034 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, which would be the third time the Alpine country has hosted the event.

Switzerland has pledged to organise a "decentralised" Games using existing facilities spread across the country of around 9 million people. It said the Games would be largely financed by the private sector.

A statement from the Swiss Olympic Association said the member federations of the country's Olympic Committee had voted unanimously in support of the plans to host the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games at their general assembly.

The statement said the vote confirmed a shared ambition to move into the next phase of the bidding process with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), called the “targeted dialogue” phase.

The IOC are set to decide which countries will move forward to the next phase of the process by the end of the month.

“The delegates of Switzerland’s sports federations have sent a strong message of support for a project that could provide a unique momentum for Swiss sport as a whole, as well as for our country,” Swiss Olympic President Jurg Stahl said in the statement.

Other destinations vying to hold the 2030 Games include Salt Lake City in the United States, the host of the 2002 Games, as well as Sweden and France.

Japan's northern city of Sapporo last month dropped its bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics and said it would consider hosting the Games in 2034 or in subsequent years.

"Switzerland is lucky to already practically have all the necessary infrastructure, ranging from sporting venues to its transport network and accommodation," Urs Lehmann, president of the Swiss Ski Association, said last month. "Let's seize this