It will be, at least in the intentions of Coni, the Olympics of Italy. An unprecedented formula for the Olympic Games, both summer and winter, which have never been hosted by a country or a region, but by a city and its surroundings. It's what Milan would have wanted, favorite on the eve and at the most ready for a ticket either with Cortina or with Turin, but in the end the president Giovanni Malagò communicated the sensational decision of the highest Italian sports body: it will be an Olympics three, all three cities will participate in the organization and will submit, in the coming months, to the decision of the IOC, in competition with Stockholm, the Japanese Sapporo and the Turkish Erzurum, not to be underestimated given the great ambitions of Erdogan on the front of major works and propaganda operations. The final decision is expected on 10 September 2019, at the meeting of the IOC which - ironically - will be held in Milan.
Milan is greatly disappointed by the "three-headed" candidacy wanted by Malagò, a hybrid probably wanted by the Lega-stellato government so as not to dissatisfy any of Turin, under Five Star traction with the mayor Appendino (who because of this affair is risking losing the majority in the municipal council, after the rebellion of four councilors) and Cortina d'Ampezzo, which is part of the Veneto governed by the Northern League Zaia. And indeed for this very reason the mayor Giuseppe Sala wrote to Malagò, effectively withdrawing from the organization of the event: “With regret – writes the mayor of Milan – I note that in choosing the candidacy for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games, political reasons are prevailing over sporting and territorial ones. Out of a spirit of service to the country, Milan confirms its availability, where required, only as a venue for competitions or events as, given the current conditions, it does not deem it practicable to participate in the 2026 governance"
According to many, the Milanese dossier was the most suggestive: fairly low cost, as Coni himself had always hoped (net of future contributions from the Cio, the expected expenditure was less than half a billion), and then the inauguration at San Siro, the Medal Plaza at the Duomo, the downhill run in Bormio, a historic slope that has already hosted several World Ski Championships. Not to mention the suggestive alliance with Sankt Moritz, already designed to make up for any non-collaboration with either Turin or Cortina. All to be reviewed now. However, it is probable that Milan will remain the epicenter of these Italian Games, also due to its central position between the three locations, but then it should retain very little of the original project.
In any case, the Cio does not mind the solution for now: so far there has been no opposition, there is even a letter arrived on Friday which endorses the triune solution. Strange, because the executive director of the IOC Christophe Dubi recalled in an interview last April: “We like that CONI has presented three different cities. But at the next level, we have to be pragmatic. The three projects will be evaluated by Coni, which will make a single proposal on which we will work". But who knows that in his desire for renewal, the IOC could also open up to a national / regional Olympics. For those who pass the first screening in Buenos Aires in October, then win in Milan in 2019, 925 million in Cio contribution will enter. The assumed cost of the candidacy is less than the 380 million expected by Cortina, the challenge that on paper was the cheapest.
