Davos and St Moritz want to host the 2022 Winter Olympics

Mar 30, 2011, 15:10 GMT

Geneva - The famous Swiss Alpine resorts of Davos and St Moritz on Wednesday declared their intention to bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The high-end ski resorts in eastern Switzerland will present their joint plan by Thursday to the Swiss Olympic Committee. They plan to present themselves as an alternative to big urban host cities.

'We want simpler games,' said Tarcicius Caviezel, a politician from Canton Graubuenden, where the two resorts are located, who is spearheading the effort.

Davos and St Moritz believe they have most of the infrastructure in place to hold the Games, though some new installations would be required, according to the Swiss news agency SDA.

St Moritz hosted the Winter Games in 1928 and 1948, though more recent Swiss bids have failed.

Switzerland, where the International Olympic Committee is based, will decide later this year whether it will formally field a bid for the 2022 Games.

Given Switzerland's direct democracy, if the country takes on the Graubuenden bid, a local referendum would likely be needed, and parliament too would have a say in whether the Alpine land officially bids.

The 2022 host is elected by the IOC in 2015. The 2014 Winter Games are in Sochi, the 2018 host is picked on July 6 from Munich (Germany), Pyeongchang (South Korea) and Annecy (France).

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