Norwegian Ski Association president Sverre Seeberg has claimed that seven of the country’s winter sports organisations have teamed up to back a bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

According to Seeberg, an opinion poll earlier this year revealed that 60 per cent of the Norwegian public would support a bid from Oslo to stage the Winter Olympics. However, Seeberg admitted that the city’s support for a capital bid for the Games needs to be forthcoming before an application can be confirmed.

“In the course of this autumn, we must get positive feedback from the City of Oslo and the state if this (bid proposal) has any realistic possibility of succeeding,” Seeberg told reporters. A state guarantee must be submitted to the International Olympic Committee by the end of 2013 at the latest, he added. Borre Rognlien, president of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the country’s Confederation of Sport, said he had “informally” spoken to the city and state about a possible bid, and had received a positive response.

However, according to reports, officials from Tromso have already declared their opposition to Oslo bidding. Tromso edged out Trondheim and a joint bid from Oslo and Lillehammer in a domestic tender for a possible bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Tromso’s bid never materialised, though, due to a lack of public support. Oslo hosted the Winter Games in 1952, but the last time the event came to Norway was in 1994, when Lillehammer staged what is widely considered to be one of the best Winter Olympics in history.