STOCKHOLM: The Swedish Olympic Committee announced the Stockholm bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics on Monday.
The committee said in a statement that it had submitted an application to the International Olympic Commitee (IOC), ahead of the Thursday deadline.
Located on low-lying land far from the mountains, the capital city plans to co-host events with Aare ski resort, about 300 miles (500 km) to the north west.
“If ongoing investigations prove that the project is viable then a (detailed) application will be submitted to the IOC on March 14, 2014. Then it would be added to in January 2015, at which point the issue of state guarantees would be dealt with,” the committee explained in a statement.
Brushing aside scepticism regarding the city’s chances, the committee said that it had strong support from the country’s sports community, but conceded that more work was needed before a detailed application could be made.
“Before we make a final decision to apply for the Winter Olympics the technical and financial conditions need to be further investigated,” it said.
Sweden’s sports minister Lena Adelsohn Roth has been reluctant to agree to providing state financial guarantees and expressed doubts again on Monday.
REUTERS
