Politicians in Norway have long shied away from backing the bid over concerns at the cost of bringing the Games to the country's capital.

They even drew up a list of demands for the IOC should the bid go ahead, including it paying its own costs.

Yesterday, the bid collapsed after the majority Conservative Party failed to give its support to a Government guarantee.

IOC Executive Director of the Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, has now indicated his frustration over Oslo 2022's apparent failure to confront the concerns in Government.

"Earlier this year the Norwegian bid team asked for a meeting with the IOC for an explanation of all aspects of the IOC requirements, including the financial details, and the IOC arranged this for all three bid cities in order to ensure fair play amongst the three bids," Dubi said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, Oslo sent neither a senior member of the bid team nor a Government official to this meeting.

"For this reason senior politicians in Norway appear not to have been properly briefed on the process and were left to take their decisions on the basis of half-truths and factual inaccuracies."

Christophe Dubi has described Oslo 2022's withdrawal from the Winter Olympic and Paralympic race as a "missed opportunity" ©Getty Images



Dubi has also sought to emphasise the benefits of staging an Olympic Games.

He said: "This is a missed opportunity for the City of Oslo and for all the people of Norway who are known world-wide for being huge fans of winter sports.

"And it is mostly a missed opportunity for the outstanding Norwegian athletes who will not be able to reach new Olympic heights in their home country.

"It is a missed opportunity to make the most of the $880 million (£543 million/€697 million) investment the IOC would have made to the Games that would have built a considerable legacy for the people.

"In addition, national sponsorship rights granted by the IOC would have delivered a considerable sum and almost certainly substantially more than the $181 million dollars (£111 million/€143 million) estimated in the bid.

"The most recent editions of the Olympic Winter Games - for instance Vancouver and Sochi - which have all either broken even or made a profit, have made sponsorship revenue four times higher than that.

"For a country of such means, full of so many successful athletes and so many fanatical winter sports fans, it is a pity that Oslo will miss out on this great opportunity to invest in its future and show the world what it has to offer.

"We will work closely with the Olympic Movement in Norway to make the Lillehammer Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2016 a success for the young athletes."

IOC President Thomas Bach echoed Dubi's words, telling the Associated Press Oslo "really missed a huge opportunity for sport and the people of Norway".

Describing the decision to axe the bid as "clearly political", he said the 2022 bid process would not be reopened.

Thomas Bach's Agenda 2020 reform process will take on extra significance amidst a Winter Olympic bid race blighted by countries pulling out ©Getty Images



Oslo's withdrawal from the race to stage the 2022 Games leaves just Almaty in Kazakhstan and Chinese capital Beijing going head-to-head.

A decision on which city will host the Games is due to be made in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 31.

It is the first bid to feature just two candidates since 2006, when the ultimately successful pitch from Italian city Turin was up against Sion in Switzerland.

The Norwegian capital's axing of its bid, together with Swedish capital Stockholm and Kraków in Poland pulling out earlier this year, will heighten concerns the Olympics are becoming too expensive for many countries, particularly those in Europe.

The IOC's efforts to reform the Olympic Movement, under the stewardship of President Thomas Bach, will come to a head in Monte Carlo on December 8 and 9, when any changes to the bid process and the demands placed on host cities will be made.