Lviv, Ukraine withdraws bid for 2022 Winter Olympics

Lviv, Ukraine withdrew its bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics on Monday because of the continuing political and security crisis in Ukraine.

“The preliminary evaluation by the IOC’s working group found that the Lviv bid offered huge potential for future development,” International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said after talks between him, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyukin and Ukraine National Olympic Committee President Sergey Bubka.

“In my discussions with the Ukrainian prime minister and NOC president, we concluded that it would be extremely difficult to pursue the 2022 bid under the current circumstances but that a future bid would make sense for Ukraine and Ukrainian sport.”

The withdrawal leaves only three cities in contention for the 2022 Games: Beijing, Oslo and Almaty, Kazakhstan. The host city will be selected by the IOC on July 31, 2015.

“We would like to thank the IOC very much for its help and understanding, as well as the great assistance that it has given to Ukrainian athletes from all parts of the country, both morally and financially,” Bubka said