The Winter Universiade 2021 will receive additional funding after a vote in the Swiss Government ©Winter Universiade 2021

The Winter Universiade 2021, scheduled to take place in Lucerne, will receive an extra CHF 3 million (£2.2m/$3m/€2.5m) from the Swiss Government after a landslide vote of 181 to one.

This extra funding means the budget for the event will now be CHF 14m (£10.5m/$14.1m/€11.9).

The Swiss National Bank has also approved other funds requested by the Federal Council, including, CHF 8M (£6m/$8m/€6.8m) for the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, CHF 500,000 (£378,000/$507,000/€428,000) for the International Ice Hockey Federation World Ice Hockey Championship, taking place in both Lausanne and Zurich, and CHF 6m (£4.5m/$6m/€5.1m) for the renovation of the Malley Sports Centre, a venue for both those events.

The total bill now stands at CHF 28.5m (£21.5m/$28.8m/€24.3m).

Part of the increased finances will go towards renovation of the Malley Sports Centre ©Mikou Studio
Part of the increased finances will go towards renovation of the Malley Sports Centre ©Mikou Studio

The Government will also consider the possibility of increasing the security budget for the event given the global political situation, which has seen sporting events become a target of terrorist activity.

It has been stressed that to cancel the event would be “to capitulate to those who reject our liberal society.”

The 2021 Winter Universiade will take place from March 2 to 12.

The next Winter Universiade games will take place in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, in 2019 from March 2 to 12.