International

SP Member of Parliament Renske Leijten is urging the government to put a stop to the subsidy to the organisation of the 2028 Olympic Games in the Netherlands. ‘I’d like to hold this cabinet to its own mantra,’ she says ‘that a good product sells itself. If the Olympic Games are so profitable, then it shouldn’t be hard to find partners in the private sector.’

Leijten argues that the €3 million allocated to the planning group Olympisch Vuur (‘Olympic Flame’) should be spent instead on sport in schools. “We can’t even manage to offer children three hours sport in schools, or swimming lessons in school time, but there’s 3 million available to finance a round of consultations to bolster our Olympic ambitions,” says Leijten. “For me, that’s the wrong priority.”