Innsbruck bid for 2026 Winter Olympics set for rejection in referendum

VIENNA (Reuters) - Innsbruck's plan to bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics is set to be rejected in a local referendum, with more than 53 percent of voters saying no and only a small number of postal ballot papers still to be counted.

Innsbruck bid for 2026 Winter Olympics set for rejection in referendum

(Reuters)





The province of Tirol said in a statement on Sunday that 53.56 percent of the 312,237 valid votes cast across the region were against a bid to host the Games and 46.65 percent were in favour.

A total of 33,771 postal voting slips have been distributed and will be counted on Monday. Austrian media treated the result as definitive.

Innsbruck previously hosted the Games in 1964 and 1976.

The result, if confirmed, will be a blow to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which has seen interest in hosting the summer and winter Olympics fall away in the last few years, scared off by the size, cost and complexity of the events.

Beijing and the nearby city of Zhangjiakou beat Kazakhstan's Almaty for the right to host the 2022 winter Games after the other competitors dropped out, including St Moritz/Davos and Munich whose bids were derailed in referendums.

Four of the six bidders pulled out of the race to host the 2024 summer Olympics, leaving just Los Angeles and Paris in the running.

In the end, the IOC voted to award the 2024 Games to Paris while Los Angeles was given hosting rights for the 2028 Games without a full bidding contest.

Rejection for the games was strong in Innsbruck itself where 67.41 voted against a bid.





(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Christian Radnedge)


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Innsbruck bid for 2026 Winter Olympics set for rejection in referendum | SBS News