The organisers of Cortina’s bid to host the Alpine Skiing World Championship in 2019 have published a bitter statement after the International Ski Federation awarded the Championships to Are again, 12 years after the top Swedish centre last staged the event in 2007.
The statement from Cortina 2019 promotional committee reads:
“The verdict of the International Ski Federation has arrived, and it is one that “does not reward sport”. The members of the Cortina 2019 promotional committee feel they have been robbed.”
“We had a project that allowed a young and motivated team to grow, all the necessary authorisations, the unconditional support of the entire nation, and a dossier with emphasis on eco-sustainable development, respect for the environment and the advancement of sport. Everyone, and above all those involved in the process, knew that we deserved to win.”
According to Committee members, two key factors contributed to the defeat: “Firstly, strong diplomatic pressure and stakeholder interest introduced an element of imbalance which tipped the scales in favour of the Swedish location.
“In addition, the latest wave of spectacular legal actions in Italy, coinciding with the presentation of the candidature, certainly has not helped, painting Italy as an unreliable country incapable of organising large events.
“The dossier of the Cortina candidature explicitly embraced the philosophy which sees a large sport event as an important catalyst for renewal and social and economic growth. The victory of Åre, which hosted the Championships as recently as 2007, and thus will re-use existing infrastructure and know-how, blatantly rejects this principle.”
“Rather than giving Cortina the opportunity to grow, they gave Åre the opportunity to do business.”
“Pity.”
“We expected more from the FIS and so did the dozens of young people who worked with us on this project for their love of skiing and of sport.”
“Cortina has shown its ability to gather enthusiastic and unconditional support at every institutional level, demonstrating a local organisational ability rarely seen in Italy, of which they should be proud.”
“Thank you also to our sponsors for having believed in a project that would have brought great benefits to Italy and to the Dolomites.”
“We congratulate Åre and wish them a successful 2019. They are well placed to host a fabulous World Championship.”