2030 Winter Olympics: State ready to provide initial guarantee of 520 million euros

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President of the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Laurent Wauquiez (C) hugs President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Council Renaud Muselier (2nd R) between French President Emmanuel Macron (L), International Olympic Committe (IOC) President Thomas Bach (2nd L) and Retired French biathlete Martin Fourcade after the French Alps was awarded the 2030 Winter Games during the 142nd session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Paris on July 24, 2024, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

2030 Winter Olympics: a conditional victory for the France

State financial support, a condition set by the International Olympic Committee for awarding the 2030 Winter Olympics to the French Alps, will be included in the 2025 budget proposal.

French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on the day the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games were awarded to the French Alps, July 24, 2024.

Despite an out-of-control deficit and a gigantic debt, the State is preparing to make a significant financial commitment to ensure that the 2030 Winter Olympic Games (OG) take place in France, as expected. An initial guarantee totaling 520 million euros should be included in the State budget for 2025, according to a document consulted by Le Monde.

At the end of July, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2030 Winter Olympics to the French Alps, the only ones left in the running after the Swiss and Swedish bids were sidelined. This decision is, however, subject to one condition: the state and the regions must provide financial guarantees.

This could have been a mere formality. But the dissolution of the National Assembly on June 9, followed by the long absence of a new government, complicated the situation. Prime Minister on probation at the time of the award, Gabriel Attal, considered it impossible to make such a commitment on behalf of France. As for the President of the Republic, he simply promised to “ask the next Prime Minister not only to include this guarantee but also to promulgate an Olympic law.”

The suspense was quite thin. It was even less so since Thomas Bach, the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), confirmed on Tuesday, July 23, that the IOC’s vote in favor of the French Alps’ candidacy to organize the 2030 Winter Games was accompanied by reservations about the financial commitment of the State and the two regions supporting the project, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. Of course, the vote was subordinate, but the outcome was no longer in doubt.

On Wednesday, July 24, the IOC members definitively sealed (with 84 votes for, four against and seven abstentions) the award, “under conditions” , of the  XXVI Olympic Winter Games to the French Alps. In the French ranks, smiles and, above all, relief were displayed on the faces.

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