MADRID, 21 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) has confirmed this Tuesday that it will finally not present any joint candidacy to the 2030 Winter Olympics due to “there is no agreement” between the Governments of Aragon and Catalonia.
This was announced this Tuesday by the president of the COE, Alejandro Blanco, at a press conference at the organization’s headquarters in Madrid, after the meeting of the Executive Committee, in which the main item on the agenda was the decision not to opt for the ‘Games of the Pyrenees’ in 2030 due to the disagreement between the political representatives of Aragon and Catalonia.
“Each one has to assume their responsibilities. We have fought for there to be understanding, respect and dialogue, but if there are no such bases, we cannot continue and this is the decision that the assembly has approved,” Blanco said.
The leader lamented “deeply that this sports project that should unite wills, has led to important internal political confrontations based on lies and assumptions.” “We cannot convey that disunity before the IOC, everything has weighed down our project to the point of exhaustion. We cannot maintain what we have fought for because there is no agreement, the candidacy does not exist,” he asserted, opening the “possibility” that “in the future” a candidacy can be presented by “certain territories”.
The announcement by the head of the Spanish Olympic movement culminates twelve months of exchanges of declarations and disagreements between the governments of both autonomous communities due, among other things, to the distribution of events and venues for the future Olympic program which, according to the president of Aragon, Javier Lambán, was not treated “on an equal footing”.
The spokeswoman for the Catalan Government, Patricia Plaja, stated this Tuesday that it would be “surprising” if the COE and the central Executive renounced presenting a single candidacy for Catalonia and announced that the Generalitat was going to prepare a solo proposal in the coming days after that Alejandro Blanco communicated to the Minister of the Presidency, Laura Vilagrà, that he ruled out the joint candidacy.
“Catalonia is ready to host this candidacy in 2030, 2034 is a long way off (…),” said Plaja, who blamed Javier Lambán for having prevented the joint candidacy for the Games. “He has won anti-Catalanism,” he stressed.