French organizers of the 2030 Winter Olympics are exploring alternative venues for ice hockey outside of Nice, including Paris and Lyon, due to a political deadlock involving the coastal city's newly elected far-right mayor, Eric Ciotti.
Similar to the Milan Cortina Games, the French Alps project splits snow sports in mountain resorts and skating in a snow-free city, the Mediterranean resort of Nice. The original plan was to convert Nice's Allianz Riviera football stadium into a temporary hockey rink.
However, Ciotti, a former conservative now allied with Marine Le Pen's National Rally party, opposes the plan, refusing to allow the local football club to lose access to its stadium for months due to the Games. He was elected last month.
Organizers said Tuesday they worked with officials from Nice and its wider region, as well as the French government, to find solutions for placing ice hockey within the Olympic hub in Nice. A temporary ice rink, intended as a replacement for the originally planned Allianz Riviera stadium, was studied at other stadiums, mainly for men's hockey matches.
"Technical, scheduling, and financial analyses highlighted the limitations of these options, particularly due to their very high cost and impact," organizers added. "With a focus on efficiency and budget optimisation, the (organising committee) has decided to broaden its investigations by examining the use of existing facilities in other major metropolitan areas such as Lyon or Paris, particularly those offering a minimum seating capacity of 10,000," they said.
Results will be presented to the organizing committee's executive board on May 11. Final venues are expected to be confirmed in June when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decides the list of sports and events. "The analyses carried out are leading us to turn towards existing facilities that are better suited and more sustainable. Several options are being studied to ensure hosting conditions that fully meet our requirements," said Edgar Grospiron, the former Olympic champion freestyle skier who leads the organizing committee.
The Paris Entertainment Company, which operates Adidas Arena and Accor Arena, said last week it submitted a bid to host ice hockey. Both venues were used during the 2024 Paris Summer Games. French Alps Games organizers said a second competition ice rink for skating is still planned at Nice's exhibition centre, and other ice events scheduled in Nice remain unchanged.
Source: www.aljazeera.com