Milan-Cortina, expenditure at 5.3 billion between organisation and infrastructure

Honour for the work done. A hint of anxiety for what needs to be done in the coming year. The feeling of being on the right track and having created a synergy that works. These were the sentiments that seasoned yesterday's 'One year to go' ceremony that officially kicked off the countdown to the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games at the Piccolo Teatro in Lombardy's capital city. Games that are sustainable according to the IOC agenda and spread across the country, from Milan to Cortina, from Anterselva to Val di Fiemme. "Italy is ready to write the next chapter of its Olympic history," said IOC President Thomas Bach, expressing appreciation for the support shown for the Games by the Italian government and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. During the event, all the stakeholders highlighted the efforts made and the legacy that the Olympics will leave on their respective territories, from Milan Mayor Beppe Sala to Cortina Mayor Gianluca Lorenzi, who cited the record time construction of the sliding centre (it will be homologated in March), from Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana ('they will be widespread Olympics, with a great legacy and then, in 2028, we will have the Youth Olympics') to Veneto's Luca Zaia ('We feel the responsibility of this organisation, that is why I want to thank the more than 60,000 volunteers who are giving us a hand,' he said, recalling the 1.8 billion in infrastructure works attracted to Veneto thanks to the Games). 'Our goal is for Italy to come out of these Games in a wonderful way in the eyes of the world,' emphasised the president of CONI and the Milan-Cortina Foundation, Giovanni Malagò. 'I thank the Foundation team and the company Simico, which is 100% financed by the government, and the Minister for Infrastructure Matteo Salvini. Salvini himself emphasised that the Milan-Cortina Games are Olympics that celebrate the Italy of yes. 'Of these Games I carry in my eyes the foreign workers in Livigno working at -12, that is inclusion. This year's challenge is for it to be everyone's Olympics, not only those who can afford it but also the suburbs. We will be watched by 2 billion people and if someone then comes to Italy it means we have done a great job'. Salvini also recalled the '3.5 billion investments for 94 works' put in place. In this regard, on the sidelines of the event, the Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi ruled out that there is an 'explosion of costs, there is an update that is contained taking into account that the budgets were made before many critical factors,' from Covid to the cost of energy. "We have arrived at 3.5 billion for investments on public works, of which a relatively small part is on sports infrastructure and the rest is roads, motorways, railways and bridges. So, a benefit that goes far beyond the dimension of the Games but concerns the development of the economy of the territories. On the other hand, 1.85 billion is for the organisation of the Games, which five years ago was 1.6. You have to know how to do the sum on the one hand, but on the other hand you have to keep these two items divided. E. in any case it is all covered, insofar as we know that among the things to be done in this year, which will pass very quickly, is the collection of further revenues that will have to guarantee the balance of the budget'. No reference was made by Abodi to the possible extension of Malagò's mandate at CONI, which expires in June, in favour of which both Bach ('we are very happy to have such a capable leader with Malagò. With Andrea Varnier he has done a great job and will be so until the last day of the Paralympic Games'), and the governor Zaia ('I hope he will stay, he is the reference point of these Olympics').