Swedish government supports bid for 2030 Winter Olympics

STOCKHOLM - The Swedish government is backing a bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics as long as certain conditions such as the use of existing venues are guaranteed.

Sports Minister Jakob Forssmed said on Sunday that the government supports efforts to bring the Games to the country, according to a statement by its National Olympic Committee (NOC).

"This is a gratifying and important announcement. We can now proceed with our candidature and as a nation we are better prepared than ever before," NOC president Hans von Uthmann said.

The NOC, the Swedish Paralympic Committee and the nation's sports confederation are looking into a 2030 bid since the beginning of the year.

The Stockholm region is to be the hub, with competition also set to take place in Oestersund and Falun, possibly also in Latvia and Norway.

Forssmed said the NOC must now prepare a full bid which is to be inspected by the government.

Potential 2030 Games must use only existing venues and they must be cost-effective via sponsors and the International Olympic Committee, the minister told the TT news agency.

"It will be a completely different kind of Olympic Games," he said.

The 2030 Games are originally to be awarded this year but that has been pushed back to 2024 to give the IOC more time to study the effects of climate change.

The recent IOC Session in Mumbai approved a possible double allocation of the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games next year.

Switzerland and France are also set to bid for 2030, and so is Salt Lake City which would however prefer 2034 because the 2028 Olympics are in the United States, in Los Angeles.

Sweden hosted the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm but has never staged the Winter Games.