The national skating association KNSB and the Dutch Olympic association have withdrawn their support for the project to develop a new international speed skating complex in Almere.

The Icedome project won the organisation’s approval over rival bids from Heerenveen and Zoetermeer last summer but questions were immediately raised about the financing.

A year later, the KNSB has decided the Almere stadium’s backers do not have the finances for the €183m project properly sorted out.  According to news agency ANP, Almere city council refused to put in any money and the names of the financial backers were kept secret.

Shock

The decision to opt for Almere last July sent shockwaves through the skating world.

Heerenveen has played host to top-level competition since the 1980s and the province of Friesland had already allocated €50m to build a new state-of-the art stadium there. Top skaters such as world and Olympic champion Sven Kramer spoke out against the move.

MPs were also concerned about the impact on jobs of moving skating’s heart from Friesland to the Flevo polder.

It is not yet clear what will happen next. ‘We will use the coming period to assess the situation and what to do next,’ said KNSB general director Paul Sanders. ‘It is crucial that our athletes have perfect places to train at their disposal.’

Dutch speed skaters almost swept the board at the last winter Olympics.