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Not so fast on 2026, Calgary says Olympic documents posted in error

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Calgary walked back a city administration report stating the provincial and federal governments would contribute money to a 2026 Olympic Games bid, saying Saturday that no formal or final confirmation had been received.

Documents posted Friday on the city's website said the Canadian government would contribute $10.5 million and the Alberta government $10 million towards a bid estimated to cost $30 million.

The city said in a statement issued Saturday those reports were posted in error.

"The version of the report that was posted online was a version that had been prepared in the hope of receiving formal funding approval ahead of next week's strategic meeting of council," the statement read. "It was mistakenly posted."

The documents posted Friday said administration recommended Calgary create a formal bid corporation and that money be released to fund it.

Calgary is exploring a potential bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The city hosted the 1988 Winter Games.

A city project team took over the work of the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee, which concluded the cost of hosting the Games would be $4.6 billion.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi has repeatedly said a bid can't go ahead without financial support of the federal and provincial governments.

"While the city has received very positive indications from both the governments of Canada and Alberta, no formal or final funding confirmation has been received," Saturday's statement said.

"Conversations are continuing with other orders of government and administration has been working to ensure we provide council and the public with the latest information available."

City council is expected to discuss a potential Olympic bid Wednesday.

The International Olympic Committee will invite cities to bid for 2026 in October, 2018 with the deadline set for January, 2019. The winning city will be announced in September, 2019.

The Canadian Press


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