by Vincent Daheron
PARIS (Reuters) – The budget of the Organizing Committee for the French Alps’ bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics will be around 2 billion euros, more than half as much as Paris 2024, the president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF).
“The precise figure, which is only an estimate to date, (…) is 1.975 billion euros,” said David Lappartient during a press conference organized in Nice, at the conclusion of a week of visit of the Future Host Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
“We are not going to surpass them,” said Renaud Muselier, president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. “I will be particularly attentive.”
In comparison, the budget of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee amounts to 4.4 billion euros.
“We want it to be a controlled cost,” added David Lappartient. “We spent 40,730 euros on the application fee.”
The French Alps’ candidacy is the only one in the running for the organization of the 2030 Winter Olympic Games since it entered into “targeted dialogue” with the IOC in November, according to the terms of the body.
The French Alps could be officially awarded the 2030 Winter Olympic Games on July 24 in Paris, during the 142nd session of the IOC.
“You have given us confidence in your ability to deliver these Games,” said Karl Stoss, chairman of the IOC Winter Olympics Future Host Commission.
To the budget devoted to the organization of the Games is added that of infrastructure, which will be of the order of one to two billion euros, according to the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region Laurent Wauquiez.
“On investments and infrastructure, Paris 2024 is around four billion, we will be well below,” he said.
According to David Lappartient, the project of a “Solideo” (Olympic works delivery company) based on the Paris 2024 model should see the light of day for the modernization of the sites, which are almost all already existing.
France has already hosted the Winter Olympic Games three times: in Chamonix in 1924, in Grenoble in 1968 and in Albertville in 1992.
The next Winter Games will take place in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy), from February 6 to 22, 2026.
(Written by Vincent Daheron, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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