Three-way bid for 2026 Olympics 'dead'

(ANSA) - Rome, September 18 - Cabinet Secretary Giancarlo Giorgetti said Tuesday that the idea of staging a combined bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics by Milan, Turin and Cortina d'Ampezzo was "dead" due to differences between the cities.
    "I think that with an important thing like an Olympic bid, a spirit of agreement must prevail and I have not found that in the three cities," said Giorgetti, who has the brief for sport.
    "That's why the government does not think that a bid as formulated up to now can go any further.
    "This type of proposal does not have the support of the government.
    "It is dead". Veneto Governor Luca Zaia and Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana, however, proposed staging a two-way bid led by Milan and Cortina, without Turin, so Italy could still land the Games.
    "Having come this far, it is unthinkable to throw it all out of the window," Zaia and Fontana, who are members of the League like Giorgetti, said in a joint statement.
    "The bid should be saved, which is why we are willing to carry forward this challenge together.
    "If Turin is pulling out, and we are sorry, at this point, two realities are left, Veneto and Lombardy, so we'll keep going with the Lombardy-Veneto Olympics".