Hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics appears to have left Italy with a large budget deficit. According to Italian media reports, the Milan-Cortina Foundation, which is responsible for all Olympic-related events, expects a loss of around 310 million euros.
The figures were therefore communicated to the members of the foundation at the last board meeting. The “hole” results from 230 million euros higher costs and 80 million euros lower revenues, although the actual proceeds from merchandising sales have not yet been fully quantified. The budget of almost 1.4 billion euros originally set in 2019 has now increased to 1.7 billion.
Damage to the new bobsleigh track
Just a few days after the closing ceremony, millions of euros in damage to the controversial bobsleigh track in Cortina, which was newly built for the Winter Games, became public. The mayor of the municipality has already asked the Olympic Foundation, chaired by Giovanni Malago, to cover the costs of the repairs.
The members of the foundation – including the participating regions of Lombardy, Veneto, Trentino and South Tyrol – were also asked to contribute to covering the expected overall deficit in order to achieve a balanced budget.
IOC should help compensate for the deficit
For the Veneto region, the contribution would be between 26 and almost 40 million euros, depending on whether or not the International Olympic Committee (IOC) intervenes with a support of over 100 million euros. In the best case scenario – i.e. with a contribution from the IOC – Trentino and South Tyrol would each have to contribute 20 and five million euros, respectively, and Lombardy would have to contribute around 60 million euros.