Swiss proposals for Winter Olympics multiply

Several Swiss newspapers reported on Sunday on the proposal, which would see competitions in Bern and Basel, as well as in the Swiss Alps in the cantons of Valais, Graubünden and central Switzerland.

“Our objective is to include urban Switzerland,” a member of the comittee, Kurt Iseli, a Bern engineer, is quoted as saying by the ATS news agency.

Iseli said he believes that regionalism for the Olympics is “not with it” anymore and that multiple sites are more appropriate.

However, three regions of Switzerland have already expressed their interest in hosting the 2026 Games: Valais, the Lake Geneva region and Graubünden.

Switzerland has hosted the Winter Olympics twice, both times in St. Moritz in the canton of Graubünden in 1948 and 1928.

Businessman Christian Constantin, chairman of the Sion football club, filed a proposal last September to host the Games in the canton of Valais, which has been supported by cantonal authorities.

The parliament for the canton of Graubünden has also expressed interest in a bid after voters there rejected an earlier bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.