Gli svizzeri rifiutano di ospitare le Olimpiadi Invernali 2022

Swiss people decline 2022 Olympics

Yesterday, in a referendum, residents of the Swiss canton of Graubunden voted against an opportunity to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in one of the cities of this region – St. Moritz or Davos, reports Swiss Info.

In the referendum the residents were asked whether they would agree to the fact that 300 million Swiss francs ($ 320 million) from the financial reserve of the region will be spent on the organization of the Olympic Games. More than half of voters (54%) were skeptical of such spending.

According to experts, the revenues from the Games would have amounted to 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($ 1.6 billion). The government of Switzerland was ready to invest additional 1.3 billion francs. However, according to local media, the experience of the Olympic Games in the past 50 years has shown that the cost of these projects is on average higher than the initial estimates by 179%.

Supporters of the project, including the country’s sports minister, argued that the Games would attract investors and tourists. According to the opponents, the Olympics would have “catastrophic” consequences for the landscape areas.

Interesting fact: Switzerland is one of the richest and the most prosperous countries of the world.

Recall that the cost of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia has already exceeded $ 50 billion. This is a “world record”. The Olympic budget of Sochi has increased almost five times during the preparation period and has already exceeded the most expensive in the history summer Olympics in Beijing.