It was in doubt for a while, but Thialf is still receiving the government support that the House of Representatives had asked for. That writes outgoing State Secretary Blokhuis of Sport to the House.
At the beginning of this month, the Chamber an offer to make 1 million euros available so that the skating complex in Heerenveen can remain open for the time being. The Ice Temple has been struggling with financial problems for a long time.
bypass
A few days after the parliamentary decision, State Secretary Blokhuis kicked on the brake. He feared direct funding would violate European state aid rules and said he would study other options.
The State Secretary now thinks he can circumvent the rules by making the money available to Thialf via the province of Friesland. “This prevents the potential state aid problems I outlined earlier.”
The million euros is needed to eliminate overdue maintenance and to prepare the stadium for the 2022-2023 skating season, Blokhuis writes. “To the extent that this was the case, the Olympic preparation of the skating team for Beijing is not in danger.”
figure skating
This spring decided to support sports umbrella organization NOC*NSF, skating association KNSB, the municipality of Heerenveen and the province of Thialf, with a financial boost of 1.4 million euros.
There are also plans to make the skating hall financially healthy. In the future, for example, the stadium must also be used by other branches of the skating sport. Skating association KNSB, for example, wants the stadium to become the national training center for figure skating.
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