Executive Summary

The Winter Olympics 2026 is a huge and complex project that has just entered its implementation phase. While the project’s deliverables, the schedule, and the budget are defined and are not likely to change, this is the first time that the success of the Winter Games will not just be determined by the result but also by the processes that will take to the result. By analyzing some of the most relevant knowledge domains, this paper will illustrate what it takes for the Milano Cortina 2026 Games to become a total project success.

Introduction

On June 24, 2019, Milano Cortina was awarded the Olympic Winter Games 2026. Among the factors that led to winning the bid, as mentioned by IOC President Thomas Bach, is the fact that 93% of the competition venues facilities will be existing or temporary, which is in line with the Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms to lower the cost and complexity of developing Games projects. In fact, as reads the Candidature File, “Milano Cortina 2026 will be the first edition of the Winter Games to be wholly conceived, planned, developed, and closed/dismantled following the Agenda 2020 recommendations”. Thus, the importance of this project is double fold: not only is it an international event, but it is also the first of its kind to follow the newest International Olympic Committee (IOC) standards, and therefore it has to set an example for the editions to follow.

In this paper, I will review and analyze all the information available about Milano Cortina 2026 from a project management perspective to identify any critical points in some knowledge domains under observation. Although the publicly accessible information is still quite limited, being just at the beginning of the implementation phase, I have selected two media reports that provide interesting insights about possible signs of trouble.

I will first discuss the management of scope, schedule, and cost of Milano Cortina 2026, as reported in the Host City Contract between IOC and Milano Cortina (which can be considered as the Project Charter) and in the official Candidature File. I will later dig into those knowledge domains where the critical points have been identified, namely stakeholders, and governance management.

Scope – What are the main project deliverables?

Milano Cortina 2026 has committed to deliver an edition of the Winter Games that will pursue five main goals namely accessibility for all, sustainability, embracing of the Olympic spirit, making the Alps region a major sports hub, and strengthening of the Olympic brand and the Olympic movement. The specific deliverables can be distinguished by nature and include facilities (such as Olympic venues, Olympic Villages, media, and broadcasting centers, transportation, connectivity), goods (such as medals, gadgets, outlook decorations), services (ticketing, commercial activities, security, medical and health services, anti-doping control, etc.) and events (competitions, facilities testing, opening, and closing ceremonies, Torch Relay, etc.).

Schedule – Project duration and deadlines

From winning the bid at the end of June 2019 to the Opening Ceremony at the beginning of February 2026, Milano Cortina 2026 project has six-year-and-a-half time to be completed yet many of the deliverables require a much earlier deadline. For example, the construction of Olympic Villages (one permanent in Milan, two temporary villages in Cortina and Livigno) will have to be completed 8 months ahead of the beginning of the Games. All other key Olympic venues to be constructed or renovated will have to be completed by October 2024 and subsequently tested. They will organize test events starting from 3 years prior to the Games. However, while the Games starting date is a fixed deadline that cannot be changed unless force majeure occurs (as was the case for Tokyo 2020), greater flexibility will be given to earlier deadlines particularly where infrastructure construction is involved, as here is where many stakeholders are involved and where the probability of delays is higher.

Cost – Budget, and sources of funding

Total budget expenditures for 2026 amount to 1.5 billion euros, with an estimated overall net surplus of 0.003%. Of this, the IOC will cover about 50% and the remaining by domestic sponsorship, ticket sales, licensing and merchandising, lottery, and by the regional and local governments of the Host Cities. Regional governments include Lombardy and Veneto regions, while local governments include the cities of Milan and Cortina. According to the precautional budget published in the official Candidature File, Italy’s national government is not contemplated among the funding contributors of the XXV Winter Games. Even former vice-prime minister, Luigi di Maio, stated during a press release on September 2018 that “the State (Italy national government) must not put a single euro in it”. One year later, the Italian national government has announced that it will make a 1-billion-euro contribution to Lombardy and Veneto regions distributed in a 7-year period and to be used as they like. The move was justified as-needed support to guarantee the sustainability of the Winter Olympics 2026, but here comes the criticism: this 1-billion-euro funding will be taken directly from the Italian Public Investment Fund and be given to Italy’s top-two richest regions, which had already accepted to bear part of the funding and did not ask for the national government’s financial support. Because this decision came before the COVID-19 emergency arrived in Europe, it cannot be explained as back-up financial support for the regions’ economic recovery. So, the first question that comes to mind is “was the budget presented in the official Candidature File reliable?”. As it will be further discussed below, for such a huge and complex event the stakeholders involved are many. But in Milano Cortina 2026 case, there is already a plurality of different stakeholders representing the government at various levels and their belonging political parties, and they all have different interests.

Stakeholders – Key stakeholders and their interests

Milano Cortina 2026 project will involve many internal and external stakeholders. Managing them and their interests will be key to meet the project’s schedule, budget, and scope. Among the internal stakeholders, there are: the governance team (institutions + Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games + IOC), the staff and volunteers, and the sponsors. Among the external stakeholders, there are the athletes and their teams and families, the visitors, the media, the citizens, and the suppliers. On the official narrative, athletes are regarded as the most important stakeholders who deserve “an exceptional experience”, therefore everything, from competition venues to accommodation convenience to post-competition and family experience has been planned to exceed athletes’ expectations. However, by applying the “Power/Interest Matrix” we may agree that the athletes’ actual level of power is not that high. Hence, to keep them satisfied or even exceed their expectations would be enough. The IOC, who has to be managed closely instead, which is probably the real most important stakeholder in the project. In fact, it was the IOC who awarded the XXV Winter Games to Milano Cortina, and it is the IOC the entity with whom the Host Cities have signed a binding contract. Other important stakeholders are the media, whose power, rather than interest, could be quite impactful on the project’s success, so that appropriate monitoring is required. A separate paragraph will be now dedicated to the governance team, for its complexity and diversity in the roles played.

Governance – Decision makers and key influencers

The higher-level structure of the Governance team is made of the Olympic Board, which includes representatives from the IOC, the national Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG), and the Host Institutions (mayors of Milan and Cortina, presidents of Lombardy and Veneto regions and Italy’s national government). The OCOG is a private-funded, non-profit organization in charge of delivering the 2026 Games, and the contract requires its formation by the IOC. The Italian institutions have also formed a public-funded agency, Agenzia di Progettazione Olimpica (Agenzia), which will be in charge of delivering all the Games’ infrastructure requiring permanent works. However, the role and responsibilities of Agenzia get mixed with those of the Executive Committee which will be responsible to “coordinate the OCOG activities, ensuring the implementation of the guidelines determined by the Board”. Since the Executive Committee will need to coordinate activities in 49 different functional areas, each of which will probably have assigned project teams, and since part of these functional areas is infrastructure-related, it is unclear which body, the Agenzia or the Executive Committee will be ultimately in charge for the infrastructure projects. It is also unclear whether Agenzia, being a publicly funded body, will only manage the infrastructure projects using the funds provided by the national and regional governments or also have access to the funds coming from private investors and the IOC. There is no information available in this regard, but issues have nevertheless started to emerge. If there is no clarity in roles and responsibilities, issue management gets affected and delays ensue.

Italian Alpine Club – Disturbing report about the status of works for new Olympic venues in the Alps

On July 13th, 2020, the Italian Alpine Club published a report about the current status of works for the renovation and new construction of Olympic venues 2026. The report shows photos of works for the realization of new cable lifts, new ski slopes, enlargement of existing ones, new parking places, and roads to facilitate accessibility to the slopes. But from the images and the comments (which come from field experts and are based on geological reports), it looks like the works are being conducted both superficially and aggressively, thus over-affecting a territory that has even been awarded the status of world heritage by UNESCO. The report had very little media attention, and it’s unlikely that the authority-in-charge could hear the voice of such a small entity like the Italian Alpine Club effectively. But again, which is the authority in charge? Who shall the Italian Alpine Club address their appeal to be heard? If nothing is done to improve the current work practices, then where have the sustainability parameters been defined? Who is in charge to monitor that they are respected? The city of Cortina? The regional government? Agenzia? The Executive Committee?

Conclusions

Unfortunately, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some delays and may have partially disrupted the supply chain. Changes from the original plan may have happened sooner than expected in this Milano Cortina 2026 project. But change must be managed, and it will be of paramount importance that the OCOG does it without compromising the scope, whose main pillar is and must be sustainability.

Biography:

Margherita Nostro is currently an MBA candidate at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). She has 6+ years of experience in China in the construction materials industry. She speaks fluent Mandarin. Margherita holds a Bachelor in Applied Interlinguistic Communication from the University of Trieste and a Master in Interpreting and Translation from the University of Venice. Know more about the author here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/margheritanostro

References:

CAI. (2020, July 17). Retrieved from Italy Alppine Club Official Website: http://www.loscarpone.cai.it/news/items/mondiali-e-olimpiadi-di-cortina-forte-preoccupazione-del-cai-per-il-grave-impatto-ambientale-dei-cantieri-aperti.html

Il Fatto Quotidiano. (2018, September 20). Il Fatto Quotidiano. Retrieved from https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2018/09/20/olimpiadi-2026-di-maio-lo-stato-non-deve-metterci-un-euro-e-sul-ventilato-aumento-delliva-fake-news/4637616/

Il Fatto Quotidiano. (2019, December 11). Retrieved from https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2019/12/11/olimpiadi-milano-cortina-dovevano-essere-i-giochi-a-costo-zero-per-lo-stato-ma-il-governo-ha-stanziato-un-miliardo-di-euro-in-manovra/5609515/

IOC. (2019, June 24). Retrieved from Olympic Games: https://www.olympic.org/news/milan-cortina-awarded-the-olympic-winter-games-2026

IOC. (2019, June). Retrieved from Milano Cortina 2026: https://www.milanocortina2026.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Host-City-Contract-2026-Principles.pdf

Milano Cortina 2026. (2019). Retrieved from Milano Cortina 2026: https://www.milanocortina2026.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/MICO2026_Pocket-edition_eng-1.pdf