Officials behind the French bid to host the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games missed three critical deadlines, but International Olympic Committee (IOC) patience and perseverance will ultimately allow French Alps 2030 to stage the quadrennial even.
On Wednesday newly appointed French Prime Minister sent his Olympic delivery guarantee to IOC President Thomas Bach’s in Lausanne, outlining the French government’s commitment to underwrite the organization of the Games in case of a budget deficit or losses due to cancellation. The decision relies on its likely approval by Parliament, a decision that the IOC expects by March 1, 2025.
“In my capacity as Prime Minister, and taking into account the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), during its session on July 24, 2024, to retain France as host country for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Alps 2030), I confirm and undertake to guarantee the financing of any possible budget deficit of the organizing committee of the Olympic Games (OCOG),” the letter read, in part.
Barnier was appointed Prime Minister early September, replacing former PM Gabriel Attal who stepped down in July after election losses. Without a Prime Minister just days before the IOC were to vote on the French Alps candidacy at a Session in Paris, there was no capacity for the government to sign the guarantee that was required before the election. Bid officials had already missed a March deadline to produce the guarantee as the hastily arranged project scrambled to meet timelines.
The IOC elected the bid July 24 when 84 members voted in favor with 4 against and 7 abstentions, but on the condition that the Prime Minister deliver the guarantee by October 1, this past Tuesday. Knowing he’d miss the date, Barnier asked for yet another extension but managed to deliver only one day late.
It is highly unusual for a bid to be elected host without the required guarantees in place and there is a rule in the Olympic Charter to prevent it from happening. But in the reformed IOC site selection process where executives choose a single preferred candidate for Session approval – there weren’t other options. The IOC also ignored Charter rules by electing the French bid in Paris – wording stipulates that a Games cannot be awarded to a territory by a vote inside its own borders.
Barnier gained experience navigating Olympic politics when he co-chaired the Albertville 1992 Winter Games, the last time that edition was staged in the country. France also hosted in Chamonix in 1924 and Grenoble in 1968.
Regional Games proponents, President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region Renaud Muselier and former president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region Laurent Wauquiez were quick to announce the delivery of the guarantee letter across social media.
“Thank you to the Prime Minister for engaging France in this exceptional project for our territories,” Muselier wrote.
“Less than three years after our intention to apply, 18 months after our marriage with the Region (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes).”
Organizers now have until March to form an official bid committee and elect its leadership.
French Alps was a latecomer in the bid and was chosen for targeted dialogue only four months after declaring, from among Sweden and Switzerland. Previously bids from former hosts Vancouver and Sapporo dropped out of the race.
The Games will be anchored in Nice along the French Riviera where ice events will be held and a new arena build. The snow events will be staged in the North along the Alps, using existing venues including some used at Albertville 1992.
