Éric Ciotti, UDR-RN candidate for mayor of Nice, said on Tuesday that he would refuse current plans for a new ice rink and development of the Allianz Arena planned for ice sports during the 2030 Olympic Games.
“In principle, I am in favor of the Olympic Games. It is always an important event, which gives influence to our nation,” declared the deputy for Alpes-Maritimes on France 5.
But in Nice, “if I am elected mayor tomorrow, it won’t happen like that,” Éric Ciotti warned, saying he was “ready to consult the people of Nice by referendum” if we tried to force his hand.
Planned as an Olympic ice sports hub, Nice must also host an Olympic village, the media center and the closing ceremony.
If the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) 2030 has given itself until the end of June to finalize the map of sites, for the moment the project is to cover the Allianz Arena football stadium for the hockey events and to build a new ice rink next to it for figure skating.
“I do not want us to use the Allianz Riviera stadium, to block it for several months and for our team (football, l’OGC Nice) be forced to play elsewhere, at a cost of 80 million euros,” declared Mr. Ciotti, who also refuses the large ice rink project.
“There are other solutions. I will suggest them,” he assured. Contacted by AFP about these alternative solutions, Mr. Ciotti’s team did not respond immediately.
At the beginning of November, MP Frédéric Maillot (Democratic and Republican Left group), rapporteur for the opinion of the Sports budget appropriations of the Cultural Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, had questioned the Nice ice rink project, “estimated at 138 million euros”, while there are functional Olympic ice rinks in Marseille, Lyon or Pralognan-la-Vanoise.
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