Winter Olympics Milan-Cortina 2026 of discord. The control room that was held at Palazzo Chigi has not yet solved the dilemma whether the races of ice-skatinginitially foreseen a Baselga di Pinéwill be held at Rho (near Milan) or atOval Of Torino. On the other hand, the challenge caused a clash between the minister Matthew Salvini and the mayor of the Lombard capital Joseph Sala for opposing interests. To avoid popular uprisings, however, it was decided not to carry out the Olympic village in the environmentally very fragile area of Field belowan authentic “treasure chest of biodiversity”as also written by Ilfattoquotidiano.it. Circa 1,200 people will be hosted at Fiamesnorth of Cortina, in 600 prefabricated two-person houses whose cost per night, if one calculates the effective length of the overnight stays, is around at least 900 euros each.
The control room was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure Matteo Salvini and by the Minister for Sport Andrea Abodi. Present were the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council, Alfredo Mantovanoi ministers Alessandra Locatelli e Daniela Santanchethe president of Coni, Giovanni Malagòe Luca Pancalli, president of the Italian Paralympic Committee. Furthermore, the CEO of the Foundation, Andrea Varnierthe president of Infrastrutture Milano-Cortina 2026, Veronica Vecchiand the managing director Luigi Valerio Sant’Andrea. Two regional presidents Attilio Fontana for Lombardy and Luca Zaia for Veneto, in addition to the mayors of Milan, Joseph Salaand of Cortina d’Ampezzo, Gianluca Lorenzi.
SALVINI-ROOM CLASH – The choice of site for the speed skating competitions immediately appeared divisive. It is no coincidence that we have reached yet another control room without having agreed on a choice, despite the fact that seven months have passed since the Trentino hypothesis was abandoned. Mayor Sala supported the Milan Fair (Rho), while the Municipality of Turin and the Piedmont Region support the option Oval Ingotsupported by the leader of the Lega. The clash occurred when Salvini asked to clarify the costs borne by the Fiera Foundation. “As a Milanese citizen, it is above all my interest to know how much will be spent on the track in Rho, given that I read of exorbitant figures,” he said. The reference is to the approx 20 million euros expected. Sala’s reply was pungent: “If this is the case, we will also ask the Court of Auditors what do you think”. In fact, he considers it illogical to give up on Milan, given that the Piedmontese had withdrawn from the Olympic dossier in 2019. They had taken advantage of it Veneto e Trentino to come forward. “A bad intervention”, replied Salvini who asked what the mayor had done during the governments Conte 2 e Draghi. Sala, cold: “I confirm what has been said”. At that point Salvini proposed to listen to the reasons of the mayor of Turin and the president of the Piedmont Region. The final decision will be made on April 18, but it seems that the road is paved in favor of Rho.
REVERSE TO CORTINA – The Cortina Olympic Village risked becoming a new case “bob lane”. In the master plan, its realization was foreseen a Fiames, north of the town. Then the technicians of the Veneto Region themselves had overshadowed hydrogeological risks. Therefore problems of interference from building sites had emerged, given that the excavation of the Cortina ring road should begin, a work over 300 million euros. So a couple of months ago the hypothesis of Campo di Sotto, in the south of the town, popped up. It is a meadow of beyond 30 hectares at the edge of the forest evaluated as a “treasure chest of biodiversity”, with animal species (il Quail king that nests there) and floral unique in the Veneto. Covering it with prefabricated buildings and service pipes would have been a mess. So it was decided to opt for Fiames, also to avoid appeals to the Tar of citizens. Governor Luca Zaia commented: “The Fiames site appears to be the most suitable, as emerged from a technical report which examined the various Cortina sites. The comparative analysis was drawn up by Commissioner Sant’Andrea with his technicians. The report will be filed and will be made available to all, given that the paths are to be implemented with maximum transparency”. Up until a few weeks ago, the orientation did not seem like this, but some fiery assemblies of citizens convinced the political power (before the technicians) to change their minds. The choice constitutes a victory for the Campo Committee and for the Cortina Civic Committee who had contested the choice which has now been shelved.
THE YELLOW OF COSTS – The mystery of the gods rests on the Village of Cortina conti. When the masterplan was presented, an expense of 47 million euros. In fact, in the allocations for the Olympics, the Village is one of the works that cannot be postponed, with an estimated expenditure of 47 million and 827 thousand euros. The government has already made 10 million euros available. More than 37 million are missing which in a decree of 2022 are in charge of the Veneto Region. It should have been like this for the bobsled track too, but then the state intervened. The words of the mayor of Cortina, Gianluca Lorenzi, have raised some questions: “We are talking about 1,200-1,300 seats, we asked for a check, because 100 or 200 places make a difference. We must also consider the entire security, police, finance and carabinieri sector, fundamental in the execution of the Olympics”. There is a risk that the 1,200 seats will not be enough. Lorenzi added: “There is talk of an expense of around 36 million euros, resources that must be found in current expenses. It is not easy to find them, but they had already been discussed with Minister Giorgetti “. According to Lorenzi, therefore, the expenditure is almost 12 million euros lower than expected. Probably, however, it will remove the 10 million already allocated from the account.
