Swiss line up new bids to host Olympics

The Swiss Olympic Association says several Swiss venues are lining up bids to host future Olympic games, despite the failure of a bid by the town of Sion to host the 2006 winter games.

The Swiss Olympic Association says several Swiss venues are lining up bids to host future Olympic games, despite the failure of a bid by the town of Sion to host the 2006 winter games.

At a news conference in Berne, the Olympic Association said Canton Graubünden in south-eastern Switzerland and the city of Montreux in western Switzerland are interested in the 2010 Olympics and the Bernese Oberland in the Winter Games in 2014.

The director of the Swiss Olympic Association, Marco Blatter, said that rather than deflate Swiss ambitions, the defeat of Sion’s bid appears to have been a source of encouragement. Sion lost out to the Italian city of Turin for the 2006 Olympics in a vote last year.

But Mr Blatter said the enthusiasm had to be reined in. “Everybody thinks they have to make a bid but they don’t consider all the conditions that have to be fulfilled. We have to tell them wait, wait, think it over.”

On another issue, the Swiss Olympic Association president, René Burkhalter warned against plans to reduce costs by cutting back on obligatory education in schools.

He said that the government made a mistake in agreeing to include an expression that effectively weakens the new version of the law on physical education in schools.

Three hours of mandatory physical education a week belong in the curriculum, and a reduction is unacceptable, he said.

By Paul Sufrin