Aragon chills the possibility of a joint candidacy with Catalonia for the Olympic Games of 2030. The president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alexander Whitetook for granted this week the Catalonia and Aragon agreement to get ahead the candidacy that will be presented to organize the 2030 Winter Olympics what it was planned to be done official this Monday. But Government of Aragon has denied the major by assuring that still there is no agreement.
From the Aragonese administration They have stressed that their position is clear and they are “decidedly” committed to holding the Olympic event in the Pyrenees. However, they have clarified that Aragon will only accept the Olympic project in equal footing between the two autonomous communities. “Today, there is no guarantee that the candidacy will be presented on equal terms and in a balanced way in all aspects”, sources from the regional Executive have assured.
“As long as all aspects of the candidacy are not clear, Aragon will not give its approval. The distrust respect to all other interlocutors is absolute”, they insist. In fact, “in case of discrepancy” the Aragonese Government will propose its own alternative. The Olympic project for the Pyrenees is “a candidacy of Spain, but Aragon will not support it if there is no to saved and strengthened the interest of the autonomous community“, have sentenced the aforementioned sources.
Venues and tests
Among the agreements, initially Barcelona and Zaragoza would have a fundamental weight in the project, especially to host the opening and closing ceremonies and all the ice events. But later the axis has been moving to the Pyrenees led by the COE, which is the one that must protect the bet before the IOC.
The current project focus the competition in different areas of the territory of Catalonia and Aragon. A) Yes, the ice tests will be distributed, which are the ones that generate the most audience: hockey would go to Sant Jordi in Barcelona and skating and curling, to Zaragoza and Jaca. In addition, the Aragonese Pyrenees would house biathlon and cross-country skiing, while the Catalan would welcome alpine ski trials, ski touring, snowboarding and freestyle. For the rest of the tests, the possibility of carrying them out Andorra, the French and Swiss Alpsalthough the priority remains work with Sarajevo as a sub-headquarters.
The Bosnian capital or another venue would host events such as skeleton, bobsleigh or jumps, to comply with the new IOC standard, the Agenda 2020+5, which obliges new Olympic projects not to build any new facilities that do not guarantee the sustainability, impact and legacy of the investment. In addition, the state of the tracks in Sarajevo and the current geopolitical issue raise doubts, although for the moment the priority has been to resolve the Spanish venues first.
The eyes of the IOC
The president of the COE, Alexander White, however, is optimistic. “If we are able, in a time of confusion and confrontation, to have a common idea and to work all in favor of that idea, following the path in common, then we have won the candidacy. From then on, whatever the moment, the Pyrenees will have Olympic Games”, assured Blanco this week in a speech in Catalonia, convinced that he had overcome the greatest difficulties after many conversations with those responsible for Esquerra, Junts and the Catalan socialists, “and everyone wants the Games.” Next week this candidacy “will be unstoppable,” he concluded.
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White spoke of the five technical meetings that have been carried out, the last one last Tuesday, from which “the candidacy that is presented” will emerge, based on “the best agreement that can be made, the candidacy of all, the shared candidacy”, explained the president of the COE, very satisfied because having managed to reach “this point” of meeting “is already the first success”, which will have to be finished off with “a joint effort to reach the final success”.
In any case, the political pulse has not ended, since the president of Aragon, Francis Lambanalready threatened on occasion with return the “dossier” of the joint application if it did not seem appropriate. In addition, the name of the candidate remains unknown.