Joe Magliocca and Druh Farrell, well-known opponents who were added to the oversight group tasked with coordinating relations between the City Council and bid leaders last month, also said the panel was not consulted before the piece was published.

They have admitted their disappointment at the editorial in the StarMetro.

Woolley cited the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee's projected price tag of CAD$4.6 billion (£2.6 billion/$3.5 billion/€2.9 billion) in the article outlining the group's vision but Farrell said "we now know that estimate is too low".

Farrell called on the oversight group to ensure the right figures are presented as the city continues to peruse over a bid for the 2026 Games.

"The original estimate did not include inflation, and some needed facilities were assumed as already built but not budgeted," Farrell said, according to The Star.

"It’s important that we communicate the correct numbers and we know now that the estimated cost is too low."

Magliocca, another councillor to have voted against continuing the Olympic project, reiterated his financial concerns.

"If we make a commitment, say $5 billion, and we run in the red another billion dollars, are the other levels of Government going to step up and pay it?" he said.

"Or is it on the backs of the citizens of Calgary?"

Woolley, elected to lead the Olympic Oversight Subcommittee earlier this month, promised the group would "dispassionately and impartially explore the options, seek out the minefields, lay out the risks and opportunities for Calgarians".

The panel was created to ensure better engagement between the City Council and a potential Calgary 2026 Bid Committee, in the build-up to a plebiscite likely to be held later this year. 

It was immediately the subject of controversy after only one opponent of the Canadian project was chosen among its members.

Magliocca and Farrell were both appointed to address the supposed imbalance in favour of supporters.

"There is no doubt that if we bid for the 2026 Olympics, we are well positioned to win," Woolley wrote.

"But the question today is: should we bid? 

"Nostalgia should not be the basis for that decision - this is not 1988. 

"Costs are way up and revenue opportunities are down. 

"Purse strings have tightened. 

"International sport is rife with mistrust and scandal and Calgarians are justifiably unsure whether 2026 represents the same opportunity as 1988."

The window for holding a plebiscite, expected to cost CAD$2 million (£1.2 million/$1.5 million/€1.3 million), will be between October and February 2019. 

This ballot, which will be a non-binding vote, will only move forward, however, should the Council agree to continue pursuing the Olympic bid.

They are due to hold another vote in June after studying more details about the potential financial implications of hosting the Winter Olympics for the first time since 1988. 

Sion in Switzerland, Graz in Austria, Sapporo in Japan, Erzurum in Turkey and Stockholm in Sweden are among the other contenders for the 2026 Winter Olympics, as well as a joint Italian bid from Milan, Turin and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Sion must also face a referendum in June.

A host city is due to be chosen by the International Olympic Committee in 2019.