Switzerland has taken a key step toward the 2038 Winter Games: after St. Moritz 1928 and 1948, it wants a third time as host
Switzerland's candidacy for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2038 entered a new political phase after the Swiss Federal Council on Monday, 22 June 2026, officially confirmed its support for the Switzerland 2038 project. According to a statement by the Federal Office of Sport BASPO, after consultations the government concluded that the plan had been received largely positively and sent Parliament a message and a proposal for planning support. This did not mean that Switzerland had been awarded the Games, but it did make one of the most important domestic political steps in a process which, if it passes all checks, could end with the return of the winter Olympic event to the country for the first time since 1948.
At the centre of the decision is the proposal for a federal contribution of at most 200 million Swiss francs, with a clear limitation that the Confederation does not assume responsibility for any possible deficit. According to BASPO, that money would be used to co-finance the Paralympic Games, more favourable use of public transport for visitors, other costs of the host organisation, and a limited reserve for expenses that currently cannot be precisely predicted. At the same time, the Federal Council makes support conditional on the cantons and municipalities jointly participating with at least the same financial amount in the costs of planning and implementation. In the Swiss model, the political issue of financing is therefore closely linked to local, regional, and national levels of government.
Why the decision matters
According to the Federal Council's official explanation, the International Olympic Committee is conducting a privileged dialogue with Switzerland for hosting the 2038 Winter Games. This means that until the end of 2027 Switzerland can develop its candidacy dossier without competition from other interested hosts for the same edition. If the dossier meets the IOC's requirements regarding the hosting concept, financing, legacy, and sustainability, according to BASPO Switzerland could be granted the right to organise the Games. Such a status does not mean an automatic award, but it significantly changes the dynamics of the candidacy because it gives it exclusive time to refine the project.
Switzerland's history of hosting the Winter Olympics is short, but symbolically strong. According to BASPO data, the country has hosted the Winter Olympic Games twice so far, both times in St. Moritz, in 1928 and 1948. Since then, various Swiss candidacies have been considered or launched, but they did not end with a new hosting. The Sion 2026 project, for example, ended after voters in the canton of Valais rejected the related proposal in 2018, BASPO states in the documentation on that candidacy. The 2038 candidacy is therefore presented as an attempt to change the pattern of earlier failures, but with a different architecture of hosting, costs, and political responsibility.
A whole-country model instead of one city
The Switzerland 2038 project is based on a decentralised concept. According to the official candidacy materials, the idea is not for one city or one region to carry the entire event, but for competitions and central functions to be distributed across existing locations in different parts of the country. The organisers state that this is a model in which Switzerland would appear as a host state, not as a classic Olympic host city. Such an approach is connected with newer rules and expectations of the Olympic movement, which in recent years has increasingly emphasised the use of existing infrastructure, cost control, and long-term benefit for the host.
According to the Switzerland 2038 website, the venue plan is conceived as a national network of sporting and organisational functions. The candidacy cites the support of 14 cities and 10 cantons, and official statements emphasise that different linguistic regions are included. For the international public, that element is important because Switzerland is building the candidacy not only on its reputation as an Alpine sports country, but also on the political idea of connecting different parts of the federal state through one major sports project. At the same time, decentralisation opens practical questions: how to preserve the feeling of shared Games, how to coordinate transport, security, and accommodation, and how to distribute benefits and costs among the locations.
The organisers claim that existing infrastructure is precisely one of the key arguments of the candidacy. The project materials state that the plan relies on sports facilities, transport capacities, and the experience of Swiss hosts of major competitions. Switzerland 2038 mentions in its announcements recent and planned international competitions as proof of the organisational experience of sports federations and cities involved in the project. Such a framework has a clear communication function: the public and the IOC need to be shown that the Games can be held without a major wave of construction and without a model that in the past often provoked resistance because of costs.
Financing under scrutiny
The most sensitive part of the project remains money. According to BASPO, the Federal Council envisages at most 200 million Swiss francs of federal support, but without assuming a deficit guarantee. Of that, 60 million is planned for co-financing the Paralympic Games, 50 million for reducing the cost of using public transport for visitors, 80 million for other costs of the host organisation, and 10 million for possible costs that are not yet visible. Security tasks that the Confederation assumes anyway within the framework of its regular responsibilities are not included in that amount, BASPO states.
The total organisational costs, according to the host organisation's estimate, amount to 2.2 billion Swiss francs. According to the Federal Council's statement, revenues would come from public contributions, sponsorships, merchandise sales, tickets, and a substantial IOC contribution. The organising association also envisages a privately financed deficit guarantee of 200 million Swiss francs. Switzerland 2038 additionally states that 82 percent of the organisational budget should be financed with private funds. Such a financing structure has been designed to reduce the political risk for taxpayers, but its feasibility will be one of the key points of parliamentary debates.
At the same time, the financial model shows how much the 2038 project differs from earlier Swiss candidacies. In the documentation on Sion 2026, BASPO cited significantly larger possible federal amounts and a different distribution of risk, while now the Federal Council emphasises the limited contribution, the absence of a federal deficit guarantee, and greater reliance on private sources. In this way, the government is trying to answer questions that in Switzerland are traditionally decisive for major sports projects: who pays, who assumes the risk, and who decides if costs grow. According to BASPO, the planned federal act would not be subject to an optional referendum because the Federal Council does not consider it a decision of “great scope”, but where the competitions will be held, there remains room for the participation of local parliaments and the population.
The political calendar now moves to Parliament
After the Federal Council's decision, the next major stage leads toward the Swiss Parliament. According to the Switzerland 2038 announcement, debates are expected in the National Council and the Council of States during the autumn and winter sessions of 2026. A political decision by the end of the year is important because it coincides with the final phase of the privileged dialogue with the IOC. If parliamentary support is confirmed, according to the organisers the candidacy will receive a stronger mandate for final negotiations, financial agreements, and technical refinement of the dossier.
The Switzerland 2038 association welcomed the Federal Council's decision as an important confirmation of the project's credibility. Co-president Ruth Wipfli Steinegger stated, according to the association's announcement, that the government's positive message is significant for the final phase of the privileged dialogue. Executive Director Frédéric Favre said that the decision sends a strong signal to sport and Parliament and recalled the support of sports federations, cantons, and cities involved in the project. Swiss Olympic President Ruth Metzler-Arnold assessed that federal support shows how the project brings together sport, politics, and society around a shared vision of long-term strengthening of sport.
These statements should also be read as part of a broader campaign of persuasion. The Swiss candidacy must simultaneously convince the IOC, national political actors, local authorities, sports federations, the business sector, and the population. Each of these circles has different criteria: the IOC seeks feasibility and international credibility, public authorities seek risk control, sports organisations look at long-term sports development, and the population is most interested in the ratio of benefits, costs, and burdens. Precisely for that reason, the Federal Council's decision is important, but it does not close the debate.
Public support exists, but scepticism has not disappeared either
According to a survey by the gfs.bern institute published by Switzerland 2038, 61 percent of respondents support Switzerland's candidacy for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2038. In the same survey, 33 percent of respondents expressed strong support, 28 percent moderate support, while 21 percent are completely opposed and 13 percent are partly opposed. The organisers also emphasise that 79 percent of respondents believe Switzerland has the necessary infrastructure and mobility for a major international event, while 74 percent consider the decentralised model an advantage because it relies on existing structures and experience. The survey was commissioned by the Switzerland 2038 association, which is important to state when interpreting the results.
The same data show that opposition is not negligible. According to the Switzerland 2038 announcement, 57 percent of respondents express concern about financial risks and the possibility that the public sector could ultimately bear the deficit. In addition, 53 percent of respondents have doubts about the sustainability of the Winter Games in the context of climate change, and part of the public questions whether the decentralised model can preserve the Olympic spirit. These objections are not secondary because finances, sustainability, and local impact have for years been among the most frequent reasons for opposition to Olympic candidacies in democratic processes.
For Switzerland 2038, the answer to scepticism lies in a combination of existing venues, public transport, private financing, and long-term legacy. The organisers claim that the Games could encourage the development of young athletes, education, competencies in organising major events, and better inclusion of Paralympic sport. According to their announcement, broad support from winter sports federations should further strengthen the project's persuasiveness. But it is precisely in the parliamentary phase that these claims will have to take a more concrete form, especially when contracts, guarantees, security costs, and responsibility in the event of changes in economic or climate circumstances are discussed.
Broader significance for the Olympic movement
The Swiss candidacy is important also beyond the national framework. If it were confirmed, the 2038 Games would be an example of a model in which hosting is not concentrated in one city, but relies on the entire country and an existing network of locations. This approach corresponds to changes in the way the Olympic movement is trying to reduce costs, avoid unnecessary construction, and increase the acceptability of candidacies among citizens. In that sense, Switzerland is offering not only a new location, but also a test of a different way of organising the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
The return of the Games to Switzerland would also carry historical weight. St. Moritz 1928 and St. Moritz 1948 remain the only two Winter Olympic episodes held in that country. A possible 2038 edition would not be a repetition of that model, but an attempt to present a new formula almost a century after the first hosting: decentralised, politically multi-level, and more financially cautious. Until then, the project must pass the Swiss parliamentary filter, complete the financial structure, refine the technical dossier, and meet the IOC's requirements. Only after those steps can the question from the title, 1928, 1948, and 2038, move from an ambitious projection into official Olympic history.
Sources:
- Federal Office of Sport BASPO – Federal Council statement of 22 June 2026 on support for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2038, the financial framework, parliamentary procedure, and referendum assessment (link)
- Switzerland 2038 – announcement on the Federal Council's support, the parliamentary phase, support from cantons and cities, and statements by representatives of the candidacy and Swiss Olympic (link)
- Switzerland 2038 – official project page with a description of the privileged dialogue, the decentralised concept, and the venue plan (link)
- Switzerland 2038 / gfs.bern – publication of the results of the survey on public support for the candidacy, arguments of support, and the public's main reservations (link)
- Federal Office of Sport BASPO – archival documentation on the Sion 2026 candidacy, earlier Swiss candidacies, and the hosting of the Winter Olympic Games in 1928 and 1948 in St. Moritz (link)