Bach: several interested cities for 2026 Winter Games

Berlin (dpa) - International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach expects several candidates for the 2026 Winter Games even though various cities withdrew over the past years.In an interview with Tuesday‘s edition of German paper Die Welt, Bach said that talks are being held with several interested cities as part of a revised bid process in which the strongest possible bids are sought and not a large number of them."We are in a dialogue with interested parties from three continents," Bach said. "The new procedure gives much more flexibility and opportunities to prematurely limit the field to the strongest - in accord with the potential bidders - before the start of the critical phase."The IOC has engaged in informal talks with interested cities such as Stockholm, Sion, Sapporo and Calgary. In the revised bid process, the whole procedure until the September 2019 election of the host city has been cut from two years to 18 months. Cities must declare interest by March 31, 2018, and an IOC Session in October will chose the final candidates.Over the past years referendums have stopped or prevented Winter Games bids from Munich, Innsbruck and Switzerland‘s Graubuenden area. Munich were among four European bidders for 2022 who withdrew.