COE withdraws 2030 Games nomination over dispute between Aragon and Catalonia

The Olympic leader was categorical in his statements: “When political representatives enter, there is no agreement and negotiations do not progress. Progress has been made on technical commissions. We can’t hold back what we’re fighting for. There is no common application. If any district wishes to submit a nomination, we open the possibility to do so before the COE and speak to the IOC to present it when presented and approved by the COE assembly”. Blanco said, “Everyone should take responsibility. We fought for respect and dialogue. But if there are these political differences, we cannot continue.”

“As a candidate, we don’t have, among other things, the best possible technical project because we can’t make big investments in Spain. So we have to transfer the jumps to other countries. But we had two important pillars: first, that we could talk about the regeneration of a region. Second, having a project based on the consensus and dialogue of various parties gave the project a lot of strength. I was trying to integrate, to unify. It was a project that started with society, it was a project not directed by politics. If we’re turning this into a conflict between constitutionalists and independents, it’s because we don’t understand the Olympic movement.”

Lambán broke the deal

Lambán is from the same party as Pedro Sánchez. “No one in any political or economic field has presented this candidacy to me as a confrontation. I think this candidacy is a political meeting point, but there was a moment when Lambán took him into non-sports territory. It’s your decision and we can’t do anything else. Saying no is easy, and once you say it, you have to measure the consequences.” For the leader, “We destroyed the nomination from home. There were differences, attacks, suspicions, lies… We couldn’t come to an agreement. And that’s what hurts me the most.”

Blanco explained the process in detail: “The COE communicated the submission of the proposal and the advantages of holding the winter Olympics in the Pyrenees of Catalonia and Aragon. I proposed a commission of 12 people, three from the Spanish government, three from Catalonia, three from Aragon, and three from the COE. This technical commission met six times between 21 December and 22 March. Finally, a technical agreement was reached for the distribution of venues and tests and a corporate meeting was called. Aragon held 54 events and Catalonia 42 events, but there were more athletes in Catalonia and more events in Aragon. We called the meeting on April 28 and three days later Javier Lambán sent me a letter stating that he did not agree. No representatives from Aragon attended. There was no agreement to change the distribution”.

deal with alp

Noting Catalonia’s efforts to reach an agreement, the statement continued: “At one of the meetings, Catalonia offered to pass five tests. free style From Aran Valley to Cerler. In return, five skating tests went to Catalonia. This offer from Catalonia was not accepted and another meeting was held. The next, on 7 June, discusses the new proposal proposed by Aragon to be distributed by lot. Separating men’s alpine skiing from women, which the representative of Catalonia refused. The problem is that this Alpine distribution was never tabled in technical commissions.”

This resulted in the cancellation of “two visits of IOC experts and two telematics meetings because there was no project as there was no agreement between representatives of Aragon and Catalonia. Later, a statement was made that he was not in a position to present a project for the time being.