Poznan City Council has voted to increase the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) budget by more than 20 per cent to $80m.
The Polish city is competing with China’s Nanjing for the right to host the second YOG in 2014, with a decision expected during the Winter Olympics which begin on February 12.
Poznan mayor Ryszard Grobelny said “Our experience in hosting many major events in our city gives us confidence that we can deliver a magnificent Youth Olympic Games with the budget that we had allocated for this event.
“However, to demonstrate our determination to the IOC [International Olympic Committee] that this city will do whatever it takes to host a spectacular Games in 2014, we have decided to add an additional $15m to our contingency budget.
“I have written to the IOC to inform them of this decision and to confirm that this city will do whatever is necessary to ensure that awarding the rights to host this second edition of the Youth Olympic Games to Poznan will create no risk whatsoever for the IOC or for the whole Olympic movement.”
