New blow to Annecy 2018 bid as chairman steps down

AP - Edgar Grospiron resigned as the head of Annecy’s struggling bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics on Sunday.

Grospiron announced his decision during a meeting of the bid’s supervisory board, the board’s chairman Christian Monteil told The Associated Press by telephone.

“He will no longer be general director. We will have to recruit someone to replace him, that is for sure, but we will keep good relations with him,” Monteil said. “He remains at the disposal of the candidature.”

Although Grospiron, Olympic moguls champion in 1992, has stepped aside as the bid’s leader, he will still offer his support to the Annecy bid to help in other roles, and with the transition toward a new leader, Monteil said. He added that the split was amicable.

“We have accepted his point of view. He will stay close to us to try and help with the transition,” Monteil said. “He hasn’t slammed the door shut.”

Annecy is competing against Munich and Pyeongchang, South Korea. The IOC selects the host on July 6 in Durban, South Africa.

“Of course it’s very hard, we’ve never really been the favorite,” Monteil said. “We’ve never given up, we want to win (and) we won’t give up.”

After the IOC criticized the bid’s spread-out venues in June, Annecy officials changed their plans in order to offer a more centralized project centered around Annecy and Chamonix.

But last week, French IOC members Jean-Claude Killy and Guy Drut said Annecy was still lagging behind because it started its campaign too late and had largely failed to convince IOC members about its revamped plans.

That prompted French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno to pledge her renewed support on Friday for Annecy’s bid, notably to help find more funding and sponsorship once the bid’s international marketing strategy has been clearly defined.

Following Sunday’s meeting, the bid’s budget got a timely boost and will now be increased from ¤18 million ($24 million) to ¤20 million ($26.4 million), Monteil said before adding that it “may not be enough.”

The meeting was also held to discuss ways of hiring personnel capable of boosting the bid’s international profile

Last week, Monteil said Annecy would soon hire consultants to help Grospiron promote the bid, which seems to have been the main basis for disagreement on Sunday.

“Basically, we have not done enough to promote our bid internationally and we don’t have a short-term solution,” Monteil said.

In an effort to rally behind the flagging bid, France’s national television broadcaster is showing this season’s World Cup races at Val d’Isere, Courchevel and Chamonix after for the first time in several years.

“We have an extra reason to show these three World Cup events,” Daniel Bilalian, France television’s head of sport, told sports daily L’Equipe on Sunday. “Annecy’s bid to host the 2018 Olympics leads us to show solidarity.

France has staged the Winter Games three times - in Chamonix 1924, Grenoble 1968 and Albertville 1992.

But Grospiron’s resignation has dealt a blow to Annecy’s already fading chances.

“It was a surprise, we didn’t expect this,” Monteil said.