Annecy presents bid book, Munich hopes for end to land row

Jan 10, 2011, 13:48 GMT

Lausanne, Switzerland - Annecy presented its bid book to the International Olympic Committee for the 2018 winter Games, while Munich sent its documents on their way at a ceremony Monday.

Annecy's delegation was led by the head of the French Olympic Committee, Denis Masseglia, and included former Olympic slalom champion Jean-Pierre Vidal among its team.

The French venue's bid book was to be followed by versions from Munich and the third candidate, South Korea's Pyeonchang, at IOC headquarters in Lausanne on Tuesday.

The organizers of Munich's candidacy sent its almost 400-page bid book on its way with high hopes that a dispute with local farmers and land owners at Garmisch-Partenkirchen will soon be resolved.

'We are now entering the really important stage,' Thomas Bach, president of Germany's national Olympic body, said at a ceremony.

Munich's bid to become the first city to host both a summer Games (1972) and a winter Olympics has been dogged by a dispute with 59 farmers and land owners from ski resort Garmisch-Partenkirchen who have refused to release their land for the Games.

However Bavarian chancellery chief Siegfried Schneider, who has been leading the talks with the land owners, said he was confident a solution would soon be found.

'We are trying to get this resolved by this or next week. We are not there yet but are confident of finding a solution,' he said.

The bid book is a dossier which includes details of the planned venues and answers detailed questions relating to transport, accommodation, technology, environmental issues and securuty.

It will be key reading for the IOC ahead of visits to the candidates by its evaluation committee. The committee, headed by Gunilla Lindberg of Sweden, will be visiting Munich between February 28 and March 4.

'We have an excellent bid, a bid by athletes for athletes. We really have an excellent chance of winning,' Bach said.

The evaluation committee's report will then go to IOC members ahead of the election of the host city on July 6 during the IOC Session in Durban, South Africa.

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