France has now provided the financial guarantees required by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the hosting of the 2030 Winter Olympics to be confirmed.

This follows on from the French Alps region being confirmed as the event’s preferred host in June this year. However, the central French government, at that point, was unable to deliver the necessary guarantees - both at a state and regional level - due to upcoming national elections and general political instability.

The IOC had said in July that the French prime minister would need to sign the guarantees by October 1, which has now happened.

Michel Barnier, French prime minister (installed in that position in early September), has now said, in a letter to IOC president Thomas Bach: "As Prime Minister... I commit to guarantee to cover any potential budgetary deficit of the organising committee.”

The last step is the necessity for the country’s parliament to ratify these statements by March 1, next year.

2030 will mark the first time France has hosted the Winter Olympics since 1992, when the games took place in Albertville.

Specifically, French Alps 2030 involves the regions of Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur.

The last Winter Olympics were held in Beijing in February 2022, with the 2026 edition set to take place in the Milan Cortina region in Northern Italy.

The French Alps’ confirmation as the conditional 2030 games’ host came via an IOC member vote in late July. The motion passed with 84 votes in support, four against, and seven abstentions.

At the same time, the bid by Salt Lake City in the US to host the 2034 edition of the Winter Olympics was also voted through, with 83 yes votes, six no’s, and six abstentions.

Both regions were effectively guaranteed hosting rights to the two Winter Olympics last November when they were unveiled as the sole preferred bidder for each edition.