The hockey tournament at the 2030 Olympics will be moved from Nice to another city, ESPN reported.
The 2030 Olympics hockey tournament was originally planned to be held in Nice. To this end, the organizers of the Olympic Games planned to use the local Allianz Riviera football arena, preparing it for hockey matches.
According to ESPN, the organizers of the 2030 Olympics were forced to abandon the options with Nice. The reason for this was unsuccessful negotiations with the new mayor of Nice, Eric Ciotti, who rejected the idea: reorienting the arena to Olympic hockey matches would deprive the local football club of a venue for home matches.
Following failed negotiations, the organizers of the 2030 Olympics have begun considering alternative venues for the hockey tournament. Currently, venues in the French capital, Paris, as well as Lyon, are being considered.
“Given the need to ensure efficiency and optimize the budget, [the organizing committee] decided to broaden the search by considering the possibility of using existing facilities in other large metropolitan areas such as Lyon or Paris, especially those with a capacity of at least 10,000 seats,” the report says.
“The analyses conducted encourage us to pay attention to existing facilities that better meet the requirements. Several options are currently being studied to ensure competition conditions that fully meet our requirements,” said Edgar Grospiron, a former Olympic freestyle champion who heads the organizing committee.
The results of the studies will be presented on May 11. The final list of venues is expected to be approved in June, when the IOC determines the list of sports and events.
Paris Entertainment, which operates the Adidas Arena and Accor Arena in the French capital, has announced its bid to host the ice hockey event. Both venues were already used for the 2024 Olympics.
The hockey competition will be the second to change location at the 2030 Olympics. In February, it was announced that the speed skating competition will be held outside the host country for the first time.