Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 19, 2026
3 min readLast updated: February 19, 2026
Ex-Veneto governor Luca Zaia urges a Venice-led, multi-city bid for the 2036 or 2040 Summer Olympics, using the lagoon city as a sustainability showcase and hosting events across Veneto and Lombardy.
By Sara Rossi
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - In the wake of the Milano Cortina Olympics, the former governor of the Veneto region wants to put forward the city of Venice and the surrounding Italian regions as candidates to host the 2036 or 2040 Summer Olympics, with a focus on preserving the lagoon city.
The Winter Olympics were the first example of Games hosted across multiple cities in Northern Italy over an area of more than 22,000 square kilometres (8500 square miles) with transport challenges as the main concern, although disruptions so far seemed limited for spectators and athletes.
"The Milano Cortina case showed the world the potential of the regions and of Italy. This expertise cannot go to waste. We are ready to take on another challenge," Luca Zaia told Reuters.
The project, which is still in its infancy, does not envisage the fragile lagoon city itself hosting competitions or the Olympic village, but Venice could become a laboratory for climate change issues, particularly those related to water, the former governor said.
"Venice would only have a symbolic role, a focal point for the bid, but it would serve as an international showcase to promote the values of sustainability and the protection of a UNESCO World Heritage site," he said.
"We must avoid any form of overcrowding in Venice; on the contrary, we must protect it," he added.
The project - yet to be discussed with either the IOC leadership or Italian authorities - foresees that events could be hosted on Lake Garda, which straddles Veneto and Lombardy, and in stadiums in Veneto cities such as Verona or Padua.
"If I meet Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the Olympic closing ceremony in Verona on Sunday, I will bring it up," Zaia said.
The next two Summer Olympics will take place in Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane, Australia, in 2032. Berlin, Budapest and Doha among others have expressed interest in a bid to host the Games in 2036.
"We could try to run already for 2036, 80 years after the first Cortina Games in 1956, and we could certainly do so for 2040, which marks 80 years since the Rome Games," Zaia said.
Asked whether Italy intends to bid for the 2036 Olympics, Giorgia Meloni - in the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Wednesday - said: "We'll see, one step at a time."
Italian National Olympic Committee President Luciano Buonfiglio recently said Italy deserves another Summer Olympics, adding that Rome could be the right host city.
Zaia, however, argued that after the success of the Winter Games, putting forward a single city was unnecessarily limiting.
"I believe that concentrating everything in one city would not make much sense for a country that has shown it has incredible assets from North to South," he said.
Many of the sites from the Milano Cortina Games will also be used to host the Winter Youth Olympics in 2028.
(Reporting by Sara Rossi, editing by Ken Ferris and Hugh Lawson)
The article covers Luca Zaia’s proposal for a Venice-led, multi-city bid to host the 2036 or 2040 Summer Olympics, building on the Milano Cortina Winter Games model.
No. Venice would have a symbolic role focused on sustainability and protecting the UNESCO-listed lagoon, while events occur across nearby cities and venues.
Potential sites include Lake Garda and stadiums in Veneto cities such as Verona and Padua, with a regional, multi-city hosting approach.
Not yet. Zaia plans to raise the idea with national leaders, while other international cities are already exploring bids for the 2036 Games.
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