The Dutch government has agreed to provide financial guarantees for the Rotterdam 2018 Youth Olympic bid in an effort to bring the event to Europe for the first time.

Olympic committee president Andre Bolhuis told sports writer Mark Bisson: We now have the guarantees of the government. It [the decision] happened this week and we have sent the guarantees to the executive board of the IOC.’
Rotterdam 2018 bid chiefs had submitted their bid book to the IOC in October without the necessary guarantees, saying they had to wait for a new coalition government before talks on underwriting the €75m cost.
Buenos Aires, Glasgow, Guadalajara and Medellin (Colombia) are the other candidates in the bid race. The winner will be announced in July.
The new Dutch government in October decided to abandon efforts to bring the 2028 Olympic Games to Amsterdam, citing the ‘lack of support in society’.
More on this