The president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alejandro Blanco, has been "convinced" that there will be an agreement to present a joint candidacy between Catalonia and Aragon to organize the 2030 Winter Olympics and has defended the technical agreement reached between the parties. Without citing the Aragonese president, Javier Lambán, who distanced himself from the technical agreement on understanding that the distribution of evidence did not treat the two communities on an equal footing, Blanco has summoned him to yield. "Whoever wants to make a political candidacy, a candidacy tailored to their needs, has chosen the wrong party", the Olympic leader pointed out in an interview in El Món with RAC1.
Blanco himself had given a deadline until May 20 - it expires tomorrow, Friday - to reach a definitive agreement to be able to present the candidacy to the International Olympic Committee in June. However, given "the difficulties" to achieve it, the Olympic leader has recognized that they must give "a little more margin" although this time he has avoided setting a deadline. "There has to be an agreement, there is no other possibility if we want to present this candidacy," said the Olympic leader, "convinced" that it will be achieved.
Asked if there has been any progress in the last week, Blanco has been blunt: "Yes, and I hope we continue to make progress." However, the president of the COE has defended tooth and nail the distribution of evidence that Lambán questions. "The distribution that has been made has been made by a technical commission, which has made a perfect technical distribution," said Blanco, who has opened the door to "small" tweaks that he has not specified.
The president of the COE wanted to make it clear, without addressing anyone in particular, that "nobody can have everything they want". "Not everyone can benefit," Blanco insisted, to make it clear that the candidacy has to be technical, not political. "Whoever wants to make a political candidacy, a candidacy to suit them, has made the wrong party," he emphasized.
Blanco has emphasized the fact that the technical commission was created with three representatives from Catalonia, three from Aragon, three from the Government and three from the COE for the sake of "understanding, respect and dialogue", he has confirmed that when the agreement was closed Aragón accepted it and has rejected that everything can be changed when everything is approved. For all these reasons, he has urged the parties to think "of the general good."
On the other hand, Blanco has flatly rejected a solo candidacy from Catalonia. "We have never talked about this," said the sports leader, who has argued that one of the strengths of the candidacy is precisely the story of being able to present a joint project "as much as we can discuss other issues." "If we don't do it together, we will make the most frightening ridicule," warned the president of the COE.
Finally, Blanco has ruled out expanding the project to other parts of France and Andorra, while considering that the name of the candidacy, which will be debated at the end, should contain the Barcelona brand.
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